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3 



PARKS 



AND 



PARK ENGINEERING 



By /" 

WILLIAM tY LYLE 

Professor of Municipal Engineering at Lafayette College 
Associate Member, American Society of Civil Engineers 
Member, Society for the Promotion of Engineering Education 



FIRST EDITION 

FIRST THOUSAND 



NEW YORK 

JOHN WILEY & SONS, Inc. 

London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 
1916 



A^ 






Copyright, 1916 

BY 

WILLIAM T. LYLE 



THE SCIENTIFIC PRESS 
ROBERT DRUMMOND AND COMPANV 

BROOKLYN. N. Y. 



©CI.A428396 



PREFACE 



IN an age of many books every author must make his 
apology for a new volume. The output of engineer- 
ing treatises and text-books is so great that for a time at 
least, in certain branches, further additions should be made 
only for very good and exceptional reasons. The author 
of this httle book beUeves that by reason of the dearth of 
information on the specialized subject treated, a sufficient 
reason exists for the publication of his manuscript, which 
for several years in abbreviated form he has used in his 
classes at Lafayette College. 

The magnitude of the park movement in America is 
only beginning to be appreciated by the average well- 
informed person. Our larger cities already have their 
parks, most of them but recently acquired, and it will not 
be long before all of our American cities will have them also 
— not merely a few small city squares, but extensive mod- 
ern parks, reservations and playgrounds, connected by 
parkways and boulevards. 

This book is prepared principally for the benefit of the 
young and inexperienced engineer of construction. The 
author hopes that it may be found useful to members of 
newly formed park associations and commissions; and that 
its earher articles may be of help to pubUc-spirited men 
who may be considering the ways and means of securing 
for their own communities the great benefits which flow 
from an ample and well-coordinated park system. It also 



iv PREFACE 



may contain valuable suggestions to engineers and others 
who, though not trained in the art, may be engaged in the 
work of development of private estates. 

While the master mind in the conception and design of 
our largest and best park systems is the landscape architect, 
it must be understood that the execution of his general 
plans is peculiarly the function of the engineer, as is also 
the design of the engineering features. The art of the park 
engineer, though a specialty, is, however, not a narrow 
specialty. He must be proficient in matters pertaining to 
the acquisition of lands, and be well versed in a great 
variety of engineering operations, such as earth excavation, 
masonry, water-works and sewerage construction, road 
building and lighting, and occasionally the construction of 
steel and reinforced concrete bridges. He must also be a 
good expert witness. 

Wherever possible the author acknowledges the kind- 
ness of those who have aided him with advice and informa- 
tion and of those who have furnished him with illustrations 
for his work. 

He is under special obligation to Mr. John C. Olmsted, 
Landscape Architect, of Brookline, Mass., and to Mr. 
Howard J. Cole, of New York, formerly Engineer in Chief 
of the Essex County Park Commission. 

William T. Lyle. 

March, 1916. 



CONTENTS 



Chapter I 
DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

PAGB 

The Social and Economic Need and the Economic Advantage 1 

The Classification of Parks 6 

Actual Results in Park Development in a Few Typical and Impor- 
tant Cases 7 

Future Probabilities in Park Development 13 

The Way to Obtain Parks 14 

The Organization for Work 14 

Chapter II 

LANDS AND SURVEYS 

General Requirements in the Selection of Park Lands 21 

The Acquisition of Property 23 

Topographical and Hydrographical Surveys 25 

Chapter III 
DESIGN 

The Architectural Treatment: 

Requirements 36 

The Engineering Design: 

Underdrainage and Sewers 39 

Grading 51 

Piling and Bulkheads 53 

Masonry Walls and Steps 57 

Water Pipes and Fixtures 61 

Paths and Drives 62 

Lighting 72 

V 



vi CONTENTS 



Chapter IV 
LABOR AND CONTRACTS 

PAQB 

Day Labor versus Contract Work 74 

Two Kinds of Contracts 75 

Advertisement 76 

Contractor's Examination of Plans 77 

Contractor's Calculations 79 

Sureties 79 

Making out the Bid 81 

Submitting the Proposals 82 

Rejection of Bids 82 

Awarding the Contract 82 

Execution of the Contract 85 

Payments and Extras 85 

Penalty Clauses 86 



Chapter V 

CONSTRUCTION 

Beginning of Operations 90 

Underdrainage and Sewers 90 

Grading 94 

Pile Driving 107 

Masonry Walls and Steps 108 

Water Pipes Ill 

Paths and Drives 112 

Lighting 126 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



The Walnut Lane Bridge over the Wissahickon. . . . .Frontispiece 

FAQS 

Fig. 1. Swamp Land May be Utilized in Park Development 3 

Fig. 2. A Typical Park System 11 

Fig. 3. Submerged Land along the North River Later Filled in 

and now a Part of Riverside Park 15 

Fig. 4. The Same Reclaimed 19 

Fig. 5. Gridiron System of Survey for Parks 26 

Fig. 6. Survey Notes 28 

Fig. 7. Topsoil Stripping, Piling and Grading 29 

Fig. 8. Modified Gridiron System of Survey for Parkways 31 

Fig. 9. Gauging the Discharge of a Stream 33 

Fig. 10. Topsoil PUe 37 

Fig. 11. Machine for Stripping Topsoil and Grading 37 

Fig. 12. Method of Providing Underdrainage for Damp or Swampy 

Soil 40 

Fig. 13. The New Bay Ridge Parkway. Surface Water Carried 

in Paved Gutters 41 

Fig. 14. Park Walk along Steep Terrace. Paved Gutters 45 

Fig. 15. Method of Collecting Surface Water from Grass Gutters. . . 47 

Fig. 16. Park Walk. Drainage in Grass Gutters 49 

Fig. 17. Method of Collecting Surface Water from Paved Gutters. . 52 

Fig. 18. Timber Bulkhead Forming Artificial Shore of Lake 55 

Fig. 19. Drainage of Retaining Walls 55 

Fig. 20. Sod Steps 59 

Fig. 21. Lawn Hydrant 63 

Fig. 22. Water Crane 63 

Fig. 23. Design of Paths 66 

Fig. 24. Correct Entrance 68 

Fig. 25. Incorrect Entrance 68 

Fig. 26. Rooter Plow 83 

Fig. 27. Wheel Scraper 83 

Fig. 28. Pulsometer 83 

Fig. 29. Pile Driver— Land Machine 87 

Fig. 30. Method of Giving Line and Grade for Sewers 91 

vii 



vm ILLUSTRATIONS 



Fig. 31. Steam Shovel Making the First Cut 91 

Fig. 32. The Same Work Farther Advanced 95 

Fig. 33. Dredging at Weequahic Park, Essex Co., N. J 101 

Fig. 34. Dredging at Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis 105 

Fig. 35. Muck Excavation at Westside Park, Newark, N. J 109 

Fig. 36. Muck Excavation at Westside Park, Newark, N. J 113 

Fig. 37. Pressure Distributor for Sprinkling Roads 121 

Fig. 38. Pavement Repairs at Boston 121 



PARKS AND PARK ENGINEERING 



CHAPTER I 
THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

THE Social Need of Parks. In view of the rapid growth 
and the increasing densities of population of our 
American cities, the need of parks, breathing spaces, play- 
grounds and parkways is becoming more and more impera- 
tive. Compact urban development has created a need 
which should be met by the municipal governments 
responsible for the condition. Our cities are recognizing 
the necessity and moral obligation of providing places for 
rest, recreation and wholesome open-air amusements. 
Excepting in a few of our larger cities, such as New 
York, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago, the 
movement is less than twenty-five years old, and even in 
these places great advances along new and better lines 
have been made in the last two decades. With new con- 
ditions new needs are born, and though our parks have 
supplied fairly well an urgent need, many of them in the 
near future will have to be remodeled in order that they 
may be increasingly useful, not only for an increasing 
population, but also to each individual in the community 
in need of the health advantages which it is possible for 
them to offer. 



2 THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

The Economic Need. The policy of delay in the pur- 
chase of park lands, if it may be called a policy, is certain 
to be an expensive one. As an example of this may be 
cited the fact that for three parks covering less than ten 
acres in the congested portion of the East Side, New York 
recently paid more than it paid for Central Park, which has 
an area of 840 acres. As another example, Hudson County, 
New Jersey, has paid for its parks an average of over $3000 
per acre, and for some property acquired by condemnation 
proceedings as high as $23,000 per acre; whereas Essex 
County, adjacent, has purchased 3000 acres of mountain 
land at a cost of only $500 per acre. Compelhng the 
present generation to bear the entire burden of purchase is 
not advocated, but by incurring a bonded indebtedness, 
the coming generation will bear its share of an expense 
which, if not incurred now, will increase to such an 
extent as to render, in many cases, the purchase almost 
impossible. 

The judicious selection and purchase of park lands and 
reservations is a far-sighted policy, which like the laying 
out of wide streets, is sure to be financially profitable in the 
long run. 

It is a well-known fact to the expert that some of the 
most imdesirable lands from the standpoint of the builder 
and real estate broker are the very best from the standpoint 
of the landscape architect. Swampy lands, foul water 
courses and steep slopes possess great possibiUties for park 
development. A double service is thus rendered — ^pri- 
marily, the construction of parks — secondarily and in- 
cidentally, the elimination of municipal nuisances which are 
frequently of a very dangerous character. The foul and 
unsightly channel and its surrounding lands are trans- 
formed by the construction of sewers and the proper engi- 




< 

13 



T3 
C 



THE ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE 



neering operations and subsequent planting into the most 
attractive of parks, the channel itself providing what is an 
especially pleasing and refreshing feature, a beautiful water 
course. 

The accompanying illustration shows a piece of swamp 
land, almost worthless, which is now a part of the 
Weequahic Reservation of the Essex County (N. J.) Park 
Commission. The swamp has been dredged and the water 
level has been raised. It is now a very picturesque lake, 
surrounded by attractively planted uplands. 

There are in almost every county spots of natural beauty 
which it is the duty of the present generation to preserve. 
The national government recognizes this principle in its 
great reservations, among which are the Yellowstone, 
Yosemite and Mount Rainier National Parks. One of the 
most impardonable losses in this connection was the cutting 
of the " Sherwood Forest " at Philadelphia, a tract of 
forty acres of virgin timber actually within the city limits. 
This land, which afforded natural advantages of very un- 
usual merit for park purposes, passed into the hands of real 
estate operators and now is part of the two-story dwelling- 
house district of West Philadelphia. 

The Economic Advantage. The laying out of parks 
increases the desirability of a town as a place of residence. 
Municipal boards of trade are realizing this principle in 
increasing measure. Park development enhances the value 
of neighboring real estate. New parkways and boule- 
vards afford very desirable frontages, the very best to be 
had for residential purposes. Much might be written on 
the subject of real estate appreciation due to park develop- 
ment ; suffice it to mention here only a few illustrative cases. 
Real estate operators testify that the increased valuation 
in the vicinity of a properly regulated park will very soon 



THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 



pay for the original investment. The assessed valuation 
in 1856 of the three wards adjoining Central Park, New 
York, was $20,500,000. In 1873 it had risen to $236,100,000. 
The natural increase as obtained by averaging the gain 
in the other wards was found to be $53,000,000, making 
the earning capacity of the park for the three adjoin- 
ing wards, $183,000,000. In three years the valuation of 
the wards surrounding Prospect Park in Brooklyn rose 
$7,000,000, which was twice the cost of the land acquired 
for the park. The wisdom of the '' Back Bay " improve- 
ment at Boston was certified in an increased valuation of 
surrounding property from 1877 to 1885 of $12,000,000 with 
a corresponding increase of revenue of $153,000. During 
this time new buildings were erected to the value of 
$10,000,000, giving a revenue of $128,000, making the total 
increased revenue, $281,000. In the city of Newark, prop- 
erty in the neighborhood of Branch Brook Park has 
increased in value to a marked extent, and to the Branch 
Brook development can be largely traced the great popu- 
larity of the Forest Hill residential section. 

THE CLASSIFICATION OF PARKS 

A convenient classification may be made thus: 
1. National Parks; 2. State Parks; 3. County Parks; 
4. City Parks; and 5. Parkways and Boulevards. The 
first two classes will not be treated in this discussion, since 
their character is principally that of great reservations of 
land of especial scenic and natural beauty. County Parks 
are usually more or less developed. They are suburban or 
rural in character and are usually of large area. City Parks 
include the old-fashioned city square and the modern city 
park whose development may be formal, informal, or both. 
When the governing board is a county park commission, 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF PARKS 



city parks are classed as county parks. The Parkway and 
Boulevard are connecting arteries which join the parks of a 
system. The Boulevard is the more formal of the two and 
often is nothing more than a beautified avenue, while a 
Parkway is much broader, often about 400 feet wide, and 
may be laid out in a semi-informal manner. 

Another classification used in some cities is, 1. City 
Parks; and 2. Outer Parks. The City Parks are 
those inside, and the Outer Parks those outside the 
city limits. The second division of this classification 
includes the reservation lands and the connecting park- 
ways. 

The accompanying map of the Essex County system, 
Fig. 2, page 11, shows a modern and scientific park develop- 
ment. But few of the original parkways as planned by 
Olmsted Brothers, the landscape architects, have been laid 
out, though some of these may come later. 

ACTUAL RESULTS 

The results of the last twenty-five years of this great 
movement have been especially remarkable, though a 
few of our older cities had parks prior to 1890. It is out- 
side the scope of this book to make a full statement of park 
accomplishments in America, which are now very extensive, 
almost all of our larger cities having caught the spirit of 
the movement. In order, however, to give some idea of 
its development and magnitude, a few typical and impor- 
tant cases will be cited. 

New York. The greatest pioneer work in America, 
though not the earUest, was the construction of Central 
Park. The land was purchased in 1856. The total acre- 
age at present is 840 and the price paid for the land was 
$6,300,000. The total amount spent in bringing the park 



8 THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

to its present condition is over $30,000,000. The park 
system now covers several thousand acres and includes 
Prospect Park in Brooklyn, one of our oldest parks, the 
Brooklyn Forest and Bronx Park with its Botanical and 
Zoological Gardens. 

Philadelphia. The original plan in Philadelphia con- 
sisted of five small squares to which Independence Square 
was afterward added. 

Fairmount Park dates back to 1812, when it con- 
tained five acres. It was enlarged in 1855 to forty-one 
acres and in 1867 to its present proportions, mainly in 
the interests of the public water supply drawn from the 
Schuylkill River. The Park Commissioners were able to 
prevent the contamination of the river as far as their 
jurisdiction extended and to exercise a wholesome influence 
upon the Councils in the matter of proper sewer construc- 
tion to intercept the flow from the river. A very interesting 
report made by a Special Committee of the Commissioners 
ol Fairmount Park upon the Preservation of the Purity of 
the Water Supply, submitted October 11, 1867, and sent to 
the author through the courtesy of Mr. Carleton E. Davis, 
Chief of the Bureau of Water, and Mr. Thomas S. Martin, 
Secretary, contains full information in regard to this matter. 
In this connection it may be added that park lands may be 
located so as to combine the park needs with those of the 
water department. Several American cities have seen this 
advantage. Surface water supplies as impounded from 
small streams can be very satisfactorily guarded by the 
acquisition of the catchment area by the park department. 
This is one of the very best examples of municipal economy 
that can be mentioned. 

The area of the Philadelphia parks is now over 5000 
acres, 1000 acres of which is in Wissahickon Park, a beauti- 



ACTUAL RESULTS 9 



ful ravine development, one of the best features of the 
Philadelphia system. 

The development of the water fronts of the Schuylkill 
and Delaware Rivers is under contemplation as part of the 
general city plan. 

The author here takes occasion to acknowledge the 
assistance of Mr. Andrew W. Crawford, Recording Secre- 
tary of the City Parks Association, who has furnished 
information as to the parks of Philadelphia and other Ameri- 
can cities. 

Chicago. The movement here dates back to 1869. 
One of the features of the park system is the incorporation 
of extensive recreation parks and playgrounds which have 
been secured in the past fifteen years. 

Preliminary plans according to Mr. Walter Wright, 
Secretary, Special Park Commission, are now being pre- 
pared for the construction of a great outer parkway system 
which will give Chicago a continuous belt of parks and 
parkways around the entire city. This work has been 
authorized by the State Legislature subject to the approval 
of the voters of Chicago, which approval was received at 
an election in November, 1914. 

Boston. This is a city of many suburbs, each separate 
in its local interests and government. These different 
municipalities have jealously guarded their local autonomy, 
but have wisely united to provide the general necessities, 
such as water, sewerage and parks. These necessities 
have been secured through the help of the State Govern- 
ment, which has created metropolitan commissioners with 
authority to provide them. Each municipality now has 
its local water supply fed from the metropolitan main 
lines; its local sewerage system, discharging into the metro- 
politan trunk sewers; and its local parks, secured either 



10 THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

before or after the appointment of the MetropoHtan Park 
Commission, which provide for local needs not met by the 
Metropolitan Parks. Boston has parks covering a total 
area of 500 acres; Cambridge has developed a frontage 
on the Charles River; and Lynn has acquired large tracts 
for park and water-supply purposes. 

The Metropolitan Park Commission consisting of five 
unsalaried commissioners was created in 1892. Up to 
the present time it has purchased 10,250 acres of land, of 
which the largest tracts are the Blue Hills Reservation, 
twelve miles from the State House and easily reached by 
electric cars; and the Middlesex Fells Reservation, five 
miles from the State House. The metropolitan parks 
with their connecting parkways and seashore and river- 
bank reservations form a model system. 

Essex County. With the exception of Military Park, 
a tract of but a few acres in the city of Newark and a few 
other small squares, Essex County had no parks up to the 
year 1895. 

At a dinner in the city of Orange in January, 1894, a 
plan was suggested for obtaining parks and a meeting was 
soon after arranged and held in the rooms of the Board of 
Trade in Newark. Park committees from Newark and 
Orange were present and the plan previously suggested was 
approved. A committee was appointed to prepare a bill 
for the State Legislature which was promptly drafted and 
approved and then presented to the Senate at Trenton. 
It was passed and signed by the Governor early in May of 
the same year. 

The bill authorized the presiding county judge to appoint 
a CoEomission of five persons to consider the advisability 
of laying out a system of parks and provided an appro- 
priation of $10,000 to cover the salaries of assistants and 




Courtesy Interstate Map Co., of Newark, N. J., engravers and publishers. 
Fig. 2.— a Typical Park System. 11 



THE FUTURE PROBABILITIES 13 

traveling expenses of the members of the Commission. 
The first Commission completed its work in 1895, after 
having reported favorably to the plan for parks, and sug- 
gested a practical plan. 

A new bill was passed by the Legislature in 1895 for the 
creation of a second Commission to be appointed as before. 
This bill carried an appropriation of $2,500,000 of county 
funds and a referendum clause. At a special election the 
bill soon became operative. The necessary moneys were 
obtained by county bond issue by the Board of Freeholders 
and turned over to the Commission. Subsequent issues of 
bonds were authorized, the outstanding indebtedness now 
amounting to $6,000,000. 

There are now five principal parks in the system with 
a total area of 3200 acres, most of which is mountain 
reservation. 

THE FUTURE PROBABILITIES 

The park movement is thus observed to be of recent 
origin. The United States in many respects has passed 
out from the period of mushroom growth into one of com- 
parative stability. There are many evidences of this. 
FHmsy bridges are being replaced by permanent masonry 
structures; wooden buildings by those made of fire-proof 
materials; cheap city pavements by those of a permanent 
character; railroads are being straightened, and elevated 
or depressed where they pass through large cities; railroad 
property fine fences are being replaced by hedges after the 
EngHsh custom; and far-sighted business corporations are 
making provision not merely for the present, but for several 
decades to come. The policy of municipal wisdom calls 
for the immediate setting apart of park lands to be paid 
for by money raised on bond issues. This poUcy in many 



14 THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

cases will be followed. In some respects it is along the 
movement on foot for the conservation of our national 
resources. 

THE WAY TO OBTAIN PARKS 

The methods adopted have already been stated. A brief 
simunary will be given. 

1. Prehminary Agitation. Pubhc sentiment frequently 
crystallizes in the appointment of a park committee or in 
a resolution passed by a board of trade, 

2. The Creation of a Commission. If the work involves 
several municipalities, as it usually does, a bill for the crea- 
tion of a park commission with delegated powers can be 
introduced into the State Legislature. 

3. How the Necessary Funds are Provided. These are 
usually obtained from the sale of bonds, whose issue is 
authorized by the State Government, the indebtedness 
being incurred by the county or district benefited. 

THE ORGANIZATION FOR WORK 

The working organization is made up about as follows: 

1. A Counsel and perhaps assistants to give legal ad- 
vice, to attend to claims and to examine contracts and 
agreements. 

2. A Landscape Architect to make selection of lands for 
parks, parkways, reservations and playgrounds. It is the 
function of the landscape architect to prepare all grading 
and planting plans and to outline for the Architect (see 5) 
the general features of buildings, gateways, walls, steps 
and bridges. 

3. A Purchasing Department to obtain options on prop- 
erties likely to be acquired and to arrange for the pur- 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR WORK 17 

chase of properties already embodied in the scheme of the 
landscape architect. 

4. An Engineering Department consisting of a chief 
engineer, assistant engineers, instrumentmen, chainmen, 
rodmen, inspectors and a chief gardener and his assistants. 
The police department as long as the engineering depart- 
ment is in existence is a part of it. When the work of land 
purchase and heavy construction is completed, it passes 
over to the Superintendent's Department (see 6). The 
work of the engineering department can be divided 
thus: 

a. Property surveys of lands to be acquired with the 
accompanying searches in the office of the recorder of deeds, 
and the preparation of property descriptions to be incor- 
porated in deeds of conveyance prepared by the counsel 
or his assistants. 

b. Topographical surveys prepared for the use of the 
landscape architect in the preparation of his plans. 

c. Designs of sewer, drainage, water-supply and lighting 
systems, together with the design of all the essential engi- 
neering features of walls and bridges. 

d. The preparation, letting and supervision of all 
contracts for construction work. This includes the direc- 
tion in detail of all construction operations. 

e. Planting and gardening operations. 

/. The maintenance of the work until it can be turned 
over to a Superintendent's Department, which need not be 
organized until the work is well under way or even com- 
pleted. 

g. The policing of all acquired areas. The police force 
consists of a chief and mounted and unmounted patrolmen 
with sometimes a few plain-clothes men. 

5. An Architect, who prepares detail designs of various 



18 THE DESIRABILITY AND ACQUISITION OF PARKS 

structures, such as buildings, gateways, steps and the 
architectural features of bridges. 

6. A Superintendents Department, whose function it is 
to take over the work done by the Engineering Depart- 
ment and carry it to completion. This work consists of 
gardening and planting operations, construction work 
(generally by day labor), and the ultimate maintenance 
of the entire system. The pohce department eventually 
is transferred to this department. 

7. A Clerical Force to transact the work of the Secretary 
and Treasurer of the Commission, to issue permits for use 
of playgrounds, and to keep open office. 

8. A Title Guarantee Department. It is customary to 
employ a title guarantee company to pass on all property 
transactions. 

All of these departments may report directly to the 
commission, though there is some variation in this matter. 



CHAPTER II 

LANDS AND SURVEYS 
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS IN THE SELECTION OF PARK LANDS 

THIS is specifically a question of landscape architecture. 
It is also a matter of common sense. Many great 
mistakes, though not chargeable to the profession of the 
landscape architect, have been made in the selection of 
park lands. The following are the leading requirements: 

1. Parks must be accessible. City parks should be 
so placed that all of the population can reach at least one 
park on foot. The larger county parks should be easily 
reached by carriage, automobile and trolley car. The 
fare on these car lines should be reasonable. Excessive 
charges should not be permitted. 

2. It seems to be the modern idea that a park system 
should be a connected system, the various parks being 
joined by parkways or boulevards. This is regarded as a 
very essential matter. 

3. A park should be located with regard to the other 
requirements of the territory in which it is placed. Central 
Park in New York City, although an asset of inestimable 
value, is so placed that it cuts off two of the main arteries 
of travel running north and south on Manhattan Island. 

4. Parks should be planned with a distinct view of the 
requirements of the population to be benefited. The 
problem must be worked out for each individual case. The 
needs of the entire population must be considered with 

21 



22 LANDS AND SURVEYS 

regard to wealth, culture, nationality, age, sex, density of 
population, etc. Drives, parkways and boulevards will 
principally benefit the wealthy. A fine landscape, beauti- 
ful architecture and opportunities for nature study meet the 
cultural requirements. The inherited traits of people of 
different national extraction should be regarded. The 
matter of age must also be carefully considered; while 
the older person will generally expect opportunities for 
quiet and rest, children and young people will need play- 
grounds and athletic fields. It may here be said that the 
playground movement has recently assumed enormous 
proportions as one of the best opportunities for civic im- 
provement. The child should have his swing, sand box 
and wading pool; the young woman her tennis court, and 
the young man his baseball field and out-of-door gymna- 
sium. Where the population is dense, the park would seem 
to be the only solution of the pressing problem of rest, 
recreation and amusement. 

5. It is a fact well known to experts that lands which 
are poor from the point of view of the real estate operator 
are often the best for park development. Low and swampy 
lands which are usually festering spots in cities are among 
this class. A very good illustration of what is meant by 
this paragraph is found at Philadelphia, where portions of 
the Tacony, Pennypack and Cobbs Creek valleys are now 
on the city plan to be used for park purposes. These 
valleys are narrow and deep. If laid out in city blocks, 
the grade of the cross streets would be about that of the 
sides of the valleys. An enormous amount of filling would 
thus be required, the cost of which would have to be 
borne by the city. The cost of this filling alone would be 
more than the purchase price of the tracts for park pur- 
poses. 



LAND SURVEY AND PURCHASE 23 

THE ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY 

The Survey. Before lands are taken over for park 
purposes, a survey is usually made by the engineering 
department. This is an easy matter when the boundaries 
are well defined by street lines, fences, stone monuments, 
hedges, stone walls or a sufficient number of blazed trees. 
It frequently happens, however, especially in rural reserva- 
tions, that the landmarks, usually blazed trees, are par- 
tially or entirely gone. In such cases the determination of 
the boundaries becomes a difficult or impossible matter, and 
especially, as frequently happens, if the recorded deeds 
contain inaccurate or grossly incorrect descriptions. In 
all such cases the matter has to be adjusted between buyer 
and seller, and, if no agreement can be reached, the ques- 
tion is passed upon by a condemnation commission, to 
be described later on. In purchasing a large reservation, 
it is the usual practice for the engineering department to 
prepare a large map of the tract, locating the boundaries 
and the principal topographical features, such as brooks, 
buildings, etc. The surveys of the individual lots and, 
when surveys cannot be obtained, mapped deed descrip- 
tions are plotted on drawing paper or cardboard. These 
plots are then cut out and fitted together on the large map. 
Overlaps and underlaps are frequent in cheap rural lands 
and occasionally a triangular piece of land will have to be 
purchased twice. 

Options. The policy of obtaining options on property 
likely to be acquired is a good one. Property owners can 
frequently be approached when they are in a favorable mood 
and advantageous agreements for the sale obtained subject 
to a definite time limit of purchase. These options may be 
obtained by members of the engineering force or by the 
purchasing agents. 



24 LANDS AND SURVEYS 

Direct Purchase. Property to be taken over for park 
purposes on which no option has been obtained can almost 
always be purchased at a fair market price, it being to the 
advantage usually of the owners to sell, since, if they refuse, 
the matter can be taken before a condemnation commission 
and a forced sale brought about. The cost of litigation is 
sometimes great and the part borne by the owner fre- 
quently a total loss. Purchases are made through the 
purchasing agents. 

Condemnations. The resort to this method of pur- 
chase is somewhat rare, since, as before stated, it is almost 
always to the advantage of the owner to sell. Condemna- 
tion proceedings for park lands are carried on about as 
follows. The method given is for the State of New Jersey: 

1. A notice to one of the justices of the Supreme Court 
that agreement cannot be reached for the purchase of the 
property, together with an application to said justice for 
the appointment of a condemnation commission of three 
men to examine the land and make a just appraisement. 
This notice is endorsed by the justice, who assigns a time 
and place for the appointment of the commissioners. 

2. A notice from the park commission to the owner 
and parties interested of the previous application for the 
appointment of condemnation commissioners, together 
with a copy containing the affidavit of the person who 
served the notice on the owner and parties interested, 
which copy is kept on file in the office of the Commission. 

3. A notice from the Supreme Court justice to the park 
commission of the appointment of a condemnation com- 
mission together with directions in regard to the notifica- 
tion of all parties concerned in the property sought to be 
acquired. This document also includes the oaths, before 
a person duly authorized to administer them, of the 



THE TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY 25 



condemnation commissioners faithfully to appraise the 
lands. 

4. A notice from the park commission through its 
counsel to the parties concerned in the transfer of the 
property, of the appointment of the condemnation com- 
mission and of the time and place of meeting to view and 
examine ^the lands and rights therein in order to make an 
equitable appraisement. This document contains the oath 
of the notice server. 

5. A report of the condemnation commissioners as to the 
value in a gross sum, of all the interests, estates, or shares 
in said lands, whether in possession, remainder, reversion 
or expectancy. 

6. The certificate of the title guarantee company as to 
the soundness of the title. 

7. The deed. 

THE TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY 

Before preparing the designs, full information must be 
obtained of all topographical features. The method of 
making the survey will depend entirely on the character of 
the land to be surveyed and also on the probable mode of 
treatment. If the tract is to be entirely regraded it will 
be well to make a very accurate survey, which can also be 
used later on in determining the amount of excavation. 
Thus one survey may be made to answer two purposes and 
much time and money be saved. The method of making 
the survey is a matter of judgment and no hard and fast 
rules can be laid down. The subject will be briefly treated 
under three headings: Parks, Reservations and Parkways. 

For Parks. The survey for city parks, and frequently 
for reservations also, is made by the gridiron method. 

The first thing to be done is to locate and properly 



26 



LANDS AND SURVEYS 



monument a suitable base-line. This base-line may be 
placed on one side of the tract if it has a long straight side. 
Hubs 3 inches square are driven every hundred feet and 
line and distance are marked by a tack or small nail. 
It is very desirable to locate this base-line where there 
is to be no cut or fill. Otherwise it will be disturbed and 





















Hubs on 


this line 












no cut 


or Ml 








C: 




























^* 










<5 


.^ 


.'^ 












•*^ 




























o 


s: 








c& 


C 


■" 


o 












o 


» 








+ 


O) 




•o 








o- + 




c 


^ 








4+57.6 


* 








Hu 


bs on this 


line 







Cm Co "* lo 

Gridiron Svstam of SurifQitioisParks- 
Fig. 5. 



will have to be relocated. The importance of this remark 
cannot be too strongly emphasized. An auxihary Une of 
hubs is laid off at right angles from the first one. The 
lines at right angles to the first Une of hubs may be desig- 
nated by letters, thus — A, B, C, etc. The lines at right 
angles to the second line of hubs may be designated by 
numbers — 0, 1, 2, 3, etc. Thus the corner of any square in 



THE TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY 27 

the checkerboard layout can be indicated ; as, C-4, which is 
a corner 400 feet from the main base-Une and 200 feet from 
the auxihary base-hne. Also any point whatever on the 
tract can be designated, as, C +49.3 — 4 +51.6. If the 
tract is a square one, it will frequently be well to have 
monumented cross-section lines on the four sides. If 
of irregular shape, well-monumented lines may be located 
at various distances apart, such as 1000 feet, where they are 
not apt to be disturbed or covered up by excavation or 
embankment. 

In addition to the permanent cross-section lines, all 
other cross-section lines are also staked out by stakes 
about 1| or 2 inches square. These stakes are allowed 
to project from the ground 6 or 8 inches and are marked 
with lumberman's chalk. The letter designation is marked 
on one face and the number designation on a face at right 
angles to it. The markings are so placed that if a person 
walked from the beginning of a cross-section Une the dis- 
tances out would be visible on the face of the stake directly 
in front of him. 

After the cross-section lines are all staked out, the level 
parties begin their operations, which consist in obtaining 
the elevation of the ground at every stake to the nearest 
tenth of a foot. All changes in grade should also be de- 
termined. All topographical features must be located, 
such as streets, buildings, water courses and trees; also 
all sewers, water pipes, gas pipes and wire conduits. In 
locating the trees, each tree should be tagged with a copper 
tag I inch by 1 inch with a number stamped upon it. The 
diameter, kind and spread of each tree should also be 
determined. This information is very important to the 
landscape architect. If the trees are very close together, 
as they frequently are in the woods, instead of attempting 



28 



LANDS AND SURVEYS 



to plot each tree in the note-book, a table may be prepared 
with the following columns. 

Fig. 6. 



Kind. 


Diameter. 


Spread. 


Co-ordinates. 


Letter. 


Number. 













The notes are kept in a cross-section book about 6^ 
by 8| inches, ruled in blue lines, ten to the inch. In work 
of this kind it is especially important that the date should 
be entered on each page. 

A map is then prepared on a suitable scale, depending 
on the amount of detail to be plotted. The following 
scales are used; 1"=30', r'=40', 1"=50' and 1" = 100'. 
This map is traced and the tracing forwarded to the land- 
scape architect. 

For Large Reservations. The previous method should 
be used if possible. Since, however, no grading is usually 
contemplated except for wood roads, etc., and since it is 
often impossible to run straight lines, the method of survey 
by random lines, as nearly straight as possible, is adopted. 
Side shots are taken by angle and stadia. This method is 
not recommended when trees and other details must be 
located. 

For Parkways. The method here to be followed is 
that of carefully running a transit line through the middle 
of the ribbon-like area, placing stakes every hundred feet. 



THE TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY 



31 



All angles should be " doubled " and checked by the needle, 
and all distances should be checked by stadia. Side 
shots are obtained by angles and stadia distances. This 
method of survey is not as accurate as the gridiron method, 
but the latter in its simplest form is not adapted to park- 



V 



'Oo 



2^ 



V 



> 


< 


(2+47.2 


'^0, 
^ 


;-* 




1^ 




V Y 




2+00 


1 R 

+ 




2B 






V H 




1+00 


7 




2^ 






'i 


•< 


■)*oo 


+ 




2R 






Modified Qrtdlran Sifstem 


of Surve-g for Parkwaua% 










Fig 


. 8. 











way work. A modified girdiron system, however, may 
be used when the base-line instead of being one straight 
line is the broken line of traverse. 

General Remark. In making topographical surveys 
it is sometimes advantageous to sketch in field. Work of 
this kind is usually much more accurate, especially when 



32 LANDS AND SURVEYS 

the map must be drawn in minute detail. It is advanta- 
geous where there are terraces, trees, etc. Mistakes in 
plotting are thus avoided, since the features are within 
sight of the draftsman. A plane table is a useful instru- 
ment for this kind of work; but it can be done with a 
transit with vertical circle, the draftsman using a light 
table 2 feet square mounted on a light tripod. 

THE HYDROGRAPmCAL SURVEY 

Ponds and Lakes. The topography of the beds of ponds 
and lakes is obtained by the gridiron method of survey. 
The depths may be had in shallow ponds by use of a rod 
lowered from a boat, the readings being referred in measure- 
ment to the water level. When the depths are more than 
6 feet, a sounding line is employed. A good sounding 
line can be made of sash-cord with a colored string tied at 
each foot-mark. Different colors are used to good advan- 
tage, the number of feet being thus readily determined. 
A sinker will be required to hold the lower end of the line 
to the bottom. Alignment of the sounding rod or rope 
may be had by means of rods on the shore or else by transit. 
The distance is obtained by stadia or else by alignment 
rods on a line at right angles to the other. 

Brooks and Creeks. The flow of streams is determined 
by use of a weir unless the flow is large. In the latter case, 
which is not conomon, a current meter or rod float must be 
employed. Fig. 9 shows clearly the customary method of 
making weir measurements. 

Depths over the crest are measured either by a car- 
penter's square or a footrule. For measuring depths 
the hook-gauge is never necessary except when litigation 
is probable. Measurements of flow may be made twice a 
day, or oftener when the water is rising or falling rapidly. 




Loaned by J. & W. Jolly, Inc. HolyoVo. Mass. 

Fig. 9. -Gauging the Discharge of a Stream, 33 



THE HYDROGRAPHICAL SURVEY 35 

In determining the discharge of a stream by means 
of a weir great importance should be attached to the matter 
of keeping the weir crest free from floating objects, which 
by backing up the stream may invalidate the readings 
even after the brush is removed. Weir frames are often 
washed out by freshets. To prevent this the frame should 
be firmly set in a trench excavated for the purpose with 
riprap on the down-stream side to prevent scour. Should 
the weir be found leaky or should leaks be apprehended, a 
little clay placed on the bed of the stream against the 
upper face will be found very satisfactory. 

Full hydrographical information is required by the land- 
scape architect in his preparation of plans for lakes and 
water courses, and by the engineer in connection with 
excavation and dredging operations and the design of 
outlet sewers. 



CHAPTER III 

DESIGN 

The Architectural Treatment 

THIS portion of the design is the function of the Land- 
scape Architect. It is embodied in the following 
drawings : 

1. A general grading plan usually drawn and traced on 
the scale of the topographical survey. By superimposing 
one tracing on the other, a composite print can be made 
showing the cut or fill at every point. 

2. Cross-sections of drives, paths, terraces, etc. 

3. Various plans and suggestions as to masonry work, 
bridges, etc. 

4. Planting plans. 

The Requirements. This book is not the place for a 
discussion of the principles of landscape architecture. The 
work is done by experts in this line of work. A few of the 
general principles are here suggested. 

First of all, the plan must be a suitable one. An English 
garden would be inappropriate in a mountain park and the 
informal treatment would be inappropriate for a city square. 

Second, the general principle of harmony must be 
observed. For instance, a cut-stone arch would be out of 
place in a natural ravine with wooded slopes. 

Third, the design should be suggestive. For example, 
the idea of steepness can be brought out by planting trees 
on the crest of the slope. 

Beautiful views should be preserved wherever possible 

36 



' 'm'-jm^y^r'^ 




Courtesy Alonzo Church, Secretary. lEsssxlCountyiPark] Commission. 
Fig. 10.— Topsoil Pile. 




Courtesy Austin-Western Road Machinery Co. 

Fig. 11.— Machine for Stripping Topsoil and Grading. .37 



UNDERDRAINAGE 39 



and should not be shut off by trees. Vistas are designed 
by a careful inspection of the topography and timber 
growth. Free access should be had to all parts of the 
park. This does not mean that access is to be obtained 
necessarily by the construction of straight drives and 
paths. Straight lines should not be used except in formal 
architecture, where they may be entirely appropriate. 
Many unsightly objects outside the park boundaries can 
be hidden from the inside by the construction of border 
mounds with suitable planting. These mounds are very 
effective and are extensively used. 

The Engineering Design 
underdrainage 

Wherever soils are swampy or wet, underdrainage is 
necessary. This can be accomplished in two different ways: 

First, by the laying of agricultural tile. Tile is made 
in two patterns — horseshoe and cylindrical. 

Horseshoe tile may be laid on a line of 1-inch boards or 
else on the bottom of the trench if it is carefully graded. 
The tile are frequently 2 feet in length. No coupling is 
used, but a piece of cheese-cloth may be employed to good 
advantage in VvTapping the joints to prevent the entrance of 
earth. 

Cylindrical tile come in 2-foot lengths and are provided 
with 4-inch collars or rings to be used at the joints. The 
sizes commonly used are 2-inch, 3-inch, and 4-inch. The 
tile are porous and should be straight, hard and of uniform 
cross-section. In draining lands they are laid in parallel 
ditches joining the main at 45 degrees. Y-connections 
can be purchased for the purpose. The distance apart 
of the trenches, their depth and the size of the tile are 
matters which experience only can satisfactorily decide. 



40 DESIGN 

The determining conditions are, the kind of soil, slope of 
the land and elevation of the water-table. The thorough- 
ness of drainage is another feature. Waring's rule is 
frequently used in the design. 

The mains are of porous tile up to 4 inches in diameter 
and above that of vitrified sewer pipe. If the line dis- 
charges into an open channel, the detail at the outlet is 




V.itrified Sewer 
Method of Providing Underdrainage f9r Damp orSiuamDU 
Soil. Surface Water should be Removed bif Inlets and 
Catch Basins along Upper Sides of Paths and Drioea. 

Fig. 12. 



very important. To prevent injury and dislocation to the 
line, the use of a 12-foot length of cast-iron pipe is recom- 
mended. This pipe does not have to be perfect. A piece 
of " seconds " can be used to good advantage. 

Tile drains become clogged in a few years, especially 
when in the neighborhood of willows and other trees which 
absorb much water. But the drainage process still con- 
tinues in some measure, due to increased porosity of the 



SEWERS 43 



soil by the dissolving out of soluble matters after the 
lajdng of the tile. Furthermore, the land will never be- 
come as wet as it originally was on account of the fact that 
the surface water is rapidly disposed of by the surface-water 
drainage system. 

Secondly, land can be subdrained by the construction of 
stone or brush ditches. The principle of action is the same 
as in the case of the tile ditches. Stone or poles are placed 
in the bottom of the trench to provide open space for the 
passage of the water. To prevent clogging up with earth, 
the stone or poles are covered with branches or straw, on 
which the backfilling is deposited. 

General Remarks. Trenches for underdrainage are 
usually spaced 50 feet apart. The depth varies from 1§ 
feet to 4 or 5 feet. The slopes should not be less than 
say 0.25 of a foot in 100 feet except for the mains. 

SEWERS 

Park sewers are of three kinds: 1. Storm-water Sewers; 
2. Sanitary Sewers; and 3. Combined Sewers. The methods 
of design and construction are in some respects different 
from those of municipal sewers. 

Sewers are usually laid along straight lines as in mu- 
nicipal work, but the great expense of manholes can be 
saved in whole or in part. Park sewers seldom he under 
pavements. If they become stopped, the trench can be 
reopened and the obstruction removed. It will be cheaper 
to do this occasionally (although it hardly ever becomes 
necessary) than to go to the great expense of placing man- 
holes at every change of line and grade. 

Park sewers are of brick or vitrified pipe. Sewers larger 
than 36 inches in diameter are built of brick. When the 
soil is treacherous, steel or spiral-riveted pipe may some- 



44 DESIGN 

times be used to advantage where dislocations might other- 
wise occur. 

1. Storm=water Sewers. The pecuUar features of park 
storm-water sewers are the methods of collecting the water, 
the methods of discharging it and the calculation of size. 

Methods of Collection. In order to collect storm water, 
inlets and catch-basins must be constructed. 

The inlet is merely an opening for the admission of 
water. It consists of an iron grating set in concrete over 
a 6-inch elbow from which the water is carried by a 6-inch 
chute into a catch-basin or directly into the sewer. 

The catch-basin is usually built of brick, of circular 
horizontal section and surmounted by a grating to provide 
for the entrance of rain water and the exclusion of sticks 
and leaves. It is constructed about 6 or 7 feet deep, 
4 feet inside diameter, corbeled in at the top to a diameter 
of 2 feet. The cast-iron grating is rectangular for paved 
gutters and circular for grass gutters. Its height is about 
8 inches. It is cast in two pieces — the lower part provided 
with a flange to rest upon — and a grating to hold back 
obstructions. A catch-basin is provided with a concrete 
foundation about 6 inches thick. The invert of the outlet 
pipe, which is 6 inches in diameter, is about 3 or 4 feet from 
the bottom. No outlet trap is provided, the purpose of 
the catch-basin being merely to catch mud and gravel and 
prevent its entrance into the sewer. 

Instead of placing two catch-basins on opposite sides of 
a path or drive, it is often well to dispense with one and 
build an inlet instead. The inlet discharges into the 
catch-basin and the catch-basin into the sewer. Should 
the inlet or its chute become stopped, it may be cleaned out 
by use of a garden hose. 

Catch-basins and inlets can be placed in paved gutters, 




- b£ 



METHODS OF DISCHARGE 



47 



or off to one side of the path or drive in grass gutters, which 
will be discussed under the heading of Grading. The dis- 
tance apart is a function of the amount of water to be 
carried. Past experience has clearly demonstrated that 
catch-basins and inlets are frequently placed too far apart 
and almost never too close together. A spacing often used 
is 125 feet. 

If a sewer carries water from a row of catch-basins along 
a drive, the sewer should not be placed under the drive, but 
rather under grass or shrubbery, where it can easily be 
reached in case of trouble. 




Method of Collecting Surface 
Water from Grass Gutters. 

Fig. 15. 



Sewer 



Methods of Discharge. If storm-water sewers discharge 
into other park sewers, it is not necessary to construct a 
manhole, as is done in city practice, providing that due 
care is observed in making the connection. 

If a storm-water sewer discharges into an open body of 
water, the discharge may take place below the surface 
of the water. This means that the outlet must be of special 
design. Cast-iron pipe held in place at the end by slope 
paving is sometimes used. Or in other cases the sewer may 
pass out through a shore wall which holds it in position. 

The turbidity of the first wash is often a source of 
trouble by reason of the fact that the pond or lake is rendered 
turbid. The first washings may be side-tracked into an 



48 DESIGN 

outlet sewer through a pipe too small to carry the storm- 
water flow. 

Sometimes where there are springs or another adequate 
source of supply for the lake or pond, the entire volume of 
storm-water is passed ofT into the outlet sewer direct. 

Calculation of Size. The usual methods of calculation 
are employed. The coefficient of imperviousness, however, 
will be low, due to the character of the surfaces, which are 
mostly grassy. 

An outlet sewer from a lake need not be of sufficient 
capacity to carry the entire flow of the storm if this flow is 
admitted to the lake. The body of water may be used as 
a reservoir whose elevation will rise slightly at time of a 
storm and the surplus water will run off through the small 
outlet sewer after the storm is over, 

2. Sanitary Sewers. These are used to carry the flow 
from toilet rooms which are located in shelters and pavihons. 
Such sewers are small. They should never discharge into 
park lakes and water courses. Sanitary sewers are gen- 
erally laid much deeper than storm-water sewers. It is 
very important that the grade be flat in order that the 
depth of flow may be as great as possible. The minimum 
velocity should be 1.5 feet per second. In order to lay 
the sewers on flat grades it may be necessary to build a 
few drop manholes at places where the sewers join. The 
size of sanitary sewers is 6 inches except for the mains. 
Owing to the impossibility in many cases of obtaining a 
proper depth of flow, say one-quarter of the diameter, 
flush tanks will have to be used to keep the sewer free from 
incrustation. 

3. Combined Sewers. These are but seldom used in 
park engineering. Occasionally however, where a sanitary 
sewer is available, storm-water sewers will be connected 




a oj 



P^ 



^(§ 






GRADING 51 

to it, thus making a combined sewer. This means an 
enlargement of size. Difficulty is often experienced in 
maintaining in dry weather a proper depth of flow without 
flushing. The flow from these sewers should not be dis- 
charged into lakes and water courses unless there is a pro- 
vision for removing the dry-weather flow to another outlet. 

GRADING 

The grading plan is prepared after a careful examination 
of the topographical map and a personal examination of 
the site. This is the function of the landscape architect. 
Some of the features in the design directly affect the drain- 
age and other plans and will thus be explained. 

Grass Gutters. Instead of allowing the sides of drives 
and paths to act as channels or gutters for the collection and 
removal of water, it is customary in modern practice to 
provide grass gutters wherever possible. These consist 
of depressions 4 to 6 inches deep and 6 to 12 feet wide on 
the sides of drives and paths, running parallel with them. 
(See Fig. 15, on page 47.) In vertical cross-section the 
traces of these gutters should be curves which are con- 
tinuous with the lines cut from the adjacent slope. These 
gutters possess marked advantages. They intercept storm- 
water and prevent it from washing away the surfaces of 
drives and paths. Since the flow of water through them is 
gentle by reason of obstruction by blades of grass, there is 
practically no erosion and very httle sohd matter is deposited 
in the catch-basins. In fact in designing the drainage 
system some engineers dispense with basins altogether and 
merely use inlets. On the lower sides of driveways and 
paths, the gutters of course are unnecessary. There are 
times, however, when by reason of the steepness of the 
slope and its close proximity to the drive or path, grass 



52 



DESIGN 



gutters cannot be used. In such cases it will be necessary 
to pave the gutter so that it may carry the run-off from the 
slope and drive or path. 




Method of collecting surface water 
from paued gutters which are neces- 
sitated bu reason of steep side slopes. 
Inlets not satisfactory on account of 
large amounts of grit. 

Fig. 17. 



Figure 13, on page 41, furnished by Mr. Cabot Ward, 
Park Commissioner of the Boroughs of Manhattan and 
Richmond, New York, illustrates the proper treatment for 
drives when the side slopes are steep. Paved gutters here 
carry the surface water. 

Absolutely level fields cannot be drained. Slight 
depressions or slopes should be provided so that surface 
water may be promptly removed. If the work is carefully 
staked out, these slopes and depressions need be but slight. 

Lakes and ponds should not drop off abruptly at the 
shore line. It is safe and proper to provide a shelf at the 
shore Une extending out 8 to 10 feet with a drop of 1| 
feet. Lakes and ponds should be at least 8 feet deep if 
possible. If shallower, there are apt to be objectionable 
growths of water plants. (See Fig. 18, on page 55.) 



PILE FOUNDATIONS 53 

PILING AND BULKHEADS 

Pile Foundations. These are often necessary in quick- 
sands and muck to support bridges, overflows, etc. Two 
kinds of piles are used, timber and concrete. Timber 
piles will answer the purpose if not too expensive and if 
they are driven below the water table. The soil surround- 
iny them may, however, afterwards become dry due to the 
construction not far away of deep brick sewers. If the 
piles dry out they are sure to rot. Wooden piles are 
driven by the familiar " land machine," with hammer 
weighing from 1500 to 2000 pounds, or else by the steam 
hammer. The latter is not so satisfactory in peaty soils, 
due to the presence of snags, which can often be shoved 
aside by the vigorous blows of the drop-hammer machine. 
Wooden piles are sometimes jetted into place by the 
hydraulic process which, it is almost needless to say, can 
be used only in sandy soils free from stones. Instead of 
sawing off and capping driven piles, it is better to make a 
foundation of concrete. This is much cheaper and is also 
stronger, since the concrete surrounds the piles and holds 
them rigidly in position. 

Concrete piles are also used and may be of the type that 
are driven or jetted into position or else of the type that 
are cast in a hole prepared by the driving of a metal form. 
Concrete piles have the advantage of durabihty, and when 
reinforced a marked advantage as columnar piles. They 
are thus especially adapted to semi-fluid peaty soils. 

The safe load to be borne by a pile is a difficult matter 
to determine. Arbitrary rules have been employed and 
when used by experienced engineers give results on the 
safe side. Considerable literature has recently been pub- 
lished on the subject of piles and pile driving, for which 



54 DESIGN 

see Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engi- 
neers, Vols. XLVIII, p. 180; LIV, Part F, p. 3; LXV,p.467; 
LXX, p. 412. 

Bulkheads. In constructing artificial lakes, it some- 
times happens that a part of the shore lies in an unstable 
soil which cannot be excavated without flowing. To 
construct a firm and stable shore the following method has 
been used : 

A single row of piles close together with every fifth one 
omitted is driven along the shore line. Then batter piles 
are driven in the gaps at as great an angle with the vertical 
as possible. Unfortunately with a drop-hammer machine 
this angle cannot be made greater than about 20 degrees. 
The piles are then all sawed off at about 1| or 2 feet below 
the proposed water surface and a wale is framed into them 
in such a way that the thrust of the batter pile due to lateral 
movement of the soil is transmitted to the wale and then 
against the vertical piles. (See Fig. 18, page 55.) 

In performing this work of cutting off the piles and 
placing the wale in position, a trench must be excavated in 
order to provide room for the workmen. In order to draw 
the work together jack-screws are used and a bolt with 
suitable washers through each pile holds it close to the 
wale. The wale consists of an 8-inch by 10-inch timber. 
The piles are notched to receive it, since the bolts must not 
be required to take up much of the thrust. The material 
on the water side of the piles can then be removed by 
cable-way or otherwise to the full depth of the lake. 
Good upland subsoil is then dumped in over the piles to 
reinforce them and provide a firm shore. This soil of course 
will sink down into the soft material below and more will 
have to be added until no further settlement takes place. 
It is wise to fill in considerably above the proposed grade 




l^feiili^ 



Timber Bulkhead and Subsoil Filling to Form 
Artificial Siiore of Lal<e Excavated in Poor Soi'l. 

Fig. 18, 




This pipe discharges 

into city sewer at 
convenient intervals 



Method of Removing 

Qround and Surface Water 

Collecting behind 

Retaining Wall. 



Fig. 19. 



55 



MASONRY WALLS AND STEPS 57 



in order to ensure stable equilibrium and then, after say 
a month, remove the surplus material. As the good soil 
sinks into the soft material in which the lake is being con- 
structed an upheaval of course takes place, which necessi- 
tates further excavation. 

In order to provide a soUd bottom for the lake, 1-inch 
boards are laid loosely on scantUng and covered with 6 
inches of good subsoil. 

MASONRY WALLS AND STEPS 

Retaining Walls. It is essential that masonry walls, 
whether of stone or concrete, be kept dry. In order to 
secure this, proper provision must be made both for the 
collection and for the disposal of water. 

If a retaining wall is backed by a grassy slope, a grass 
gutter should be provided to intercept surface water before 
it reaches the wall. Catch-basins or inlets are placed in 
this gutter at proper intervals, usually about 125 feet, and 
the water entering them is carried off through a storm- 
water sewer. (See Fig. 19, page 55.) 

Ground water must also be taken care of. To do this 
it is well to place broken stone behind the wall to act as a 
reservoir and passageway for the water, which can be 
drawn off through the wall by means of " weep holes " 
spaced from 15 to 50 feet apart. A square hole in the wall 
about 4 inches by 4 inches in cross-section answers the pur- 
pose. Or a 3- or 4-inch iron pipe of the kind commonly 
called " seconds " may be used instead. The first method 
is frequently followed in stone retaining walls and the 
second in those made of concrete. The weep hole may 
discharge directly upon the surface, or the water may be 
carried off below the surface. The first method will suffice 
if no path or walk is adjacent, since the quantity of water 



58 DESIGN 

discharged is slight. But if there is a walk near the wall, 
it is better to follow the second course. The flow from the 
weep holes may be carried below the walk in pipes and 
discharged into a street gutter through holes in a concrete 
curb, or the pipes may discharge into a line of agricultural 
tile or vitrified pipe. 

Perfectly straight and continuous walls running parallel 
to a street are sometimes extremely monotonous. Variety 
can easily be secured by the use of pilasters or buttresses. 

The customary rules for thickness cannot be followed 
in designing low stone walls, say 3 or 4 feet high above 
the foundation, unless the stone have true horizontal 
beds and extend entirely through the wall. Since this is 
seldom the case, the wall should have a thickness on top 
of the foundation of at least one- third of the height. The 
thickness under the coping should not be less than 15 inches. 

The foundation offset should never be visible, but 
should be covered with a few inches of soil. 

Dry walls are frequently advantageous by reason of 
their cheapness. Stone uncovered by the grading opera- 
tions, if of the flat variety, such as shale rock, is excellently 
adapted for the purpose. 

Steps. These may be of stone, usually granite, or of 
concrete. They should be designed with broad treads 
and low risers. The treads are about 14 inches wide and 
risers about 6 inches high. The exposed corners should be 
slightly chamfered. 

If a flight of steps is placed in a curved walk, the steps 
should run truly normal to the curve, the walls at the sides 
being either continuous with the path lines or else tangent 
to these lines. Stone steps should be so designed that they 
rest for several inches one upon another, and all vertical 
joints should be broken. 




TRANSVERSE SECTION 







-Treud 



^^ Treud 



''-^^'":H^ 



Treu'l 



Giouii'J lyovel 



FRONT VIEW 

Fig. 20.— Sod Steps. 



m 



WATER PIPES AND FIXTURES 61 

Cement steps should be finished rough with crushed 
quartz or coarse sharp sand. 

A very attractive flight of sod steps was shown to the 
author by Mr. G. A. Parker, Superintendent of Parks, at 
Hartford, Conn. To prevent the breaking down of the 
edges, a scanthng was placed at the face of the tread and 
supported as shown in the illustration, Fig. 20, page 59. 

The grading above a flight of steps should be of such a 
character that no water will reach the steps. This end is 
best attained by use of grass gutters. 

WATER PIPES AND FKTURES 

All pipes above 3 inches should be of cast iron. The 
smaller sizes, l|-inch, 2-inch and 3-inch, are of galvanized 
wrought iron. Most of the pipes in a park system are 
of the smaller sizes. Much expense can be saved by 
laying the pipes in shallow ditches, say 3 feet deep. This 
can be done only when no water is needed in the winter 
time. If pipes are laid in shallow trenches it is imperative 
that they be laid to grade, and that all low points be pro- 
vided with blow-offs into an adjacent sewer. If no sewer 
is low enough, part of the system will have to be laid at a 
depth of at least 5 feet in places whose climate is like that 
of New York City. 

Water pipes supplying buildings must always be laid 
at a sufficient depth to prevent freezing in the winter time. 

Dead ends should be avoided as much as possible. The 
usual gridiron system should be followed. 

The hydrants used, with the exception of a few fire 
hydrants required, are of the lawn pattern. The ordinary 
lawn hydrant does not project above the ground. It is 
provided with hose connection and is opened by a short 
key about 3 inches in length. Occasionally water cranes 



62 DESIGN 

are used for filling water wagons. These should be simple 
and of neat appearance. The hydrant shown in the figure 
is provided with a valve key for shutting off the water 
below ground and emptying the riser. If hydrants are set 
in swampy ground, special provision should be made to 
take care of the drip. This can best be removed by 
making a sewer connection. (See Figs. 21 and 22.) 

The water supplied to parks is frequently metered. 
For small consumption, a water meter of the disc, rotary 
or reciprocating variety is used, but for large consump- 
tion a Venturi meter of the self-recording type is needed. 
This meter requires the erection of a small house to contain 
it. Water meters should never be set in wet manholes. 
If the manhole is below the water table, the soil should be 
drained or else a drain pipe should extend to the bottom of 
the manhole. If the soil is usually dry but occasionally 
wet, the pit can be kept dry by building it of a ring of 
brickwork 1| bricks thick and thoroughly filling the joints 
with impervious mortar. 

Drinking fountains are placed where needed. The 
water from galvanized pipes has an unpleasant taste when 
the pipes are new, but the disagreeable taste gradually 
disappears. 

PATHS 

Paths are surfaced with cement, with gravel and occa- 
sionally with asphalt or brick. Before considering in detail 
these different kinds of walks, a few remarks will be made 
in regard to (1) the provision for drainage, (2) the shape 
in plan, (3) wings, and (4) entrances. 

(1) Provision for Drainage. Except in dry, gravelly 
soils it is customary to lay cinder or broken stone founda- 
tions to provide drainage and prevent heaving from frost. 
All walks should be on an incline. At low points provision 




Fig. 22. 






Courtesy Ludlow Valve Mfg. Co. 

Fig. 21. 
Water Crane and Lawn Hydrant. 

6.3 



PATHS 65 

should be made for the removal of the water which has 
collected. This can be done by providing a chute of agri- 
cultural tile to the nearest catch-basin or sewer. Drain- 
age for street sidewalks can be had by running a short pipe 
to the gutter. 

If a path is close to a steep terrace, it may be necessary 
to carry surface water in a gutter in the path itself. (Fig. 
14, page 45.) In the case of gravel walks or of cement, 
asphalt or brick walks with gravel wings, the gutter may 
be made of small stone blocks. Inlets and catch-basins 
will have their gratings in the gutters. These gratings 
should be sHghtly depressed or else the water will pass 
them without entering. If the slope is steep the gratings 
should be placed level or sometimes at a shght inchnation 
against the grade. If the walk is nearly level it may not 
be necessary to pave the entire gutter. It is often enough 
to place the blocks every foot or two, which is sufficient to 
prevent the washing away of the gravel. 

(2) Shape in Plan. Park walks may be either straight 
or curved, depending on the nature of the design. In 
the formal garden the straight walk is proper, but in the 
informal design straight lines should be avoided. Curves 
should not be laid out arbitrarily. A curve should always 
have its reason. This is afforded by a natural obstacle or 
by the topography. If natural obstacles do not exist, they 
can be introduced in the design. 

(3) Wings. In order to increase the effective width of 
a park walk, wings of gravel 4 feet wide on each side are 
often used. These wings may have the full cinder foun- 
dation as in the cement, asphalt or brick pavement. In 
economical construction the cinder foundation is omitted. 
(See Fig. 15, on page 47.) When the paths are not crowded, 
all of the walking will be on the middle part, the wings 



66 



DESIGN 




Path should be Tangent 



The topography does 
not call for the aboue 
reversed curue-nor are 
there natural obstacles 
to warrant it. The walk ' 
does not leave the street 
line in the right direction. 



Location of Path 
governed by 
Topography 
and natural 
obstacles 




This drawing shows path 
properly placed. Observe 
position of park catch 
basin. Water should 
never be allowed to cross 
a path or drive. 



Fia. 23. 



PATHS 67 

being of convenience in passing and when the walks are 
crowded. The depth of the gravel is 4 inches. The 
gravel should be of such a character that it will readily 
bind. It should be of suitable color and its surface should 
be continuous with that of the middle portion of the walk. 
Crushed stone will not answer for this purpose. 

(4) Entrances. Where a park walk joins an exterior 
walk on the center line of a street, the street center line 
produced should coincide with a tangent to the center 
hne of the walk at the point of entrance. If so designed 
the entrance will look correct to a person driving down the 
street toward it and will afford equal ease of access to the 
park in both directions. (See Fig. 23 on page 66.) 

Corner entrances should be so laid out that they may 
be equally easy of access from both street cross-walks. 
This is illustrated in Figs. 24 and 25, on page 68, the first 
showing the correct design and the second the incorrect. 

Cement Paths. Interior walks are crowned in the 
middle. The crown is of two kinds, straight and curved. 
The first consists of two planes intersecting on the center 
Une of the path; the second of a continuous curved surface 
with high point in the center as before. The first method 
is to be preferred, as there is less likelihood of puddles 
after a shower. (See Fig. 15 on page 47.) Crowns are 
usually made too high. A crown of | of an inch in a walk 
8 feet wide is ample if it is actually secured. The impor- 
tance of careful staking out cannot be over-emphasized. A 
Uttle extra outlay for more grade stakes will more than pay 
for itself. It is in this connection that a criticism can be 
made in regard to the construction of our rural highways. 
In the effort to provide thorough drainage most extravagant 
crowns are adopted — crowns which frequently endanger 
traffic. By the employment of a small surveying corps 



68 



DESIGN 



Jacorrect Section a-b 



Incorrect Section a-b 

y L 




Correct Section a-b 

Fig. 24. 



^y 



V_n 




Fig. 25. 



GRAVEL PATHS 69 



in the construction of these roads, the crown could be 
greatly reduced and equally good drainage secured. 

Exterior walks, that is, sidewalks along streets, have no 
crown, but are raised on the inside to provide drainage 
toward the gutter. A slope of 1| inches for an 8-foot side- 
walk is sufficient. 

The foundation of a cement walk consists of 8 inches of 
cinders. On this is placed 3 inches of concrete and on top 
of this 1 inch of rich mortar. The foundation is sometimes 
omitted in the South and may be occasionally omitted in 
the North if the walk rests on a bed of dry gravel. (See 
Fig. 19, page 55.) 

The surface should be divided into blocks to provide 
for cracks. For an 8-foot walk, there should be a longi- 
tudinal marking down the middle and transverse mark- 
ings about 4 feet apart. It is not wise to allow a smooth- 
troweled finish, as then the walk is apt to be slippery. 
A rough finish is better; but the roller finish is not to be 
recommended. Little advantage is gained by the undula- 
tions in the surface thus made. 

ravel Paths. The crown should be a little higher 
than for cement walks, say 50 per cent. more. 

The foundation should consist of 6 inches of cinders and 
the gravel should be 4 inches deep. 

The selection of the gravel is a very important matter. 
Crushed stone is not to be recommended, but rather a 
hard rounded gravel with cementitious properties similar 
to the famous Roa Hook gravel found on the Hudson River. 
The gravel should of course be screened and should consist 
of round flat stones, not spheres. Gravel of this character 
is much easier to walk upon than gravel composed of 
spherical stones. Gravel is an excellent material for path 
construction. It is cheaper than cement, brick and asphalt 



70 DESIGN 

and affords a very good footing; furthermore its appear- 
ance is less artificial. The Roa Hook gravel in particular 
is of a color which harmonizes well with the natural features 
of the park. 

Asphalt Paths. This form of pavement is but seldom 
used. The crown should be as specified for the cement 
pavement. The foundation is of concrete 3 inches thick. 
On this is placed a binder course f of an inch in thickness 
and on this the surface coat also f of an inch thick. The 
amount of paraffin-petroleum residuum used as a flux in 
the surface coat should be a minimum in order that the 
pavement may be as hard as possible. 

Brick Paths. These also are rarely used. The brick 
may be laid on a concrete foundation with a sand cushion 
between or may be laid on a bed of cinders leveled off with a 
layer of sand. The herring-bone bond is preferred. 

DRIVES 

The crown of park drives should be very low, so that the 
full width of the drive may be effective. For a drive 40 
feet wide the crown should be about 9 inches. Instead of 
having a curved profile in cross-section, intersecting planes 
are recommended as for paths. This permits of driving 
on the extreme sides of the road. 

Wherever possible, surface water should be carried in 
grass gutters and not in gutters constructed in the drive 
itself. 

The effective width of park drives is frequently increased 
by the construction of wings on both sides. These are made 
thinner than the middle portion of the drive. 

Park drives are usually constructed on curves rather 
than on straight fines, although parkway and boulevard 
drives are sometimes straight. (See Fig. 13, page 41.) 



THE MACADAM PAVEMENT 71 

The Macadam Pavement. The telford pavement has 
been but seldom used, since the driving in parks has been 
light and the heavier telford foundation has been found 
unnecessary. It may be employed in the future owing to 
the increased weight of vehicles. The park macadam 
pavement has been constructed much hghter than the 
municipal pavement. Its thickness is 6 or 7 inches. 

Heavier pavements are now coming into use. The 
ordinary water-bound macadam pavement often answers 
very well. Its cost is low and it affords a good foothold 
for horses. Where automobile traffic is heavy it will 
be necessary to treat the surface by the usual methods 
with crude petroleum, asphalt road oil or other preparation 
described at length in modern treatises on pavements. 
Bituminous concretes are giving excellent results for park 
pavements. Calcium chloride has met with some success 
in the East as a dust palliative. 

Heavier pavements will be used in the future. The 
macadam pavement as heretofore constructed serves very 
well for carriage driving, but must now be treated with crude 
petroleum, tarvia, asphalt road oil or other similar prep- 
aration if heavy traffic is anticipated. 

The Brick Pavement. This pavement possesses marked 
advantages in durability, but has the drawback of being 
noisy under horses' hoofs and steel tires. It has been used 
at Indianapolis for the construction of an automobile 
speedway. It is a more expensive form of pavement than 
the macadam, but is permanent. The maintenance charges 
for this style of pavement are very low. 

Curb. Brick drives are always lined with curb and 
macadam pavements are occasionally. For brick pave- 
ments the curb may be either raised or flush with the 
surface. In the case of macadam pavements it is always 



72 DESIGN 

raised. If the curb is raised the water must be carried 
in gutters. Curb used in park work is most generally of 
the curved variety and is very handsome when carefully laid, 
but extremely ugly when not. It is almost needless to say 
that curved curb is very expensive. Blue stone is a good 
material to use. Curved curb can be made of concrete 
with gutter of the same material. There is no good reason 
why curved concrete curb should not present an excellent 
appearance. This means that the engineer in charge of 
the work shall be a man of good judgment in laying out 
curves. Stakes should be set not farther than 50 feet 
apart. The adjustment of the scantling which are used as 
forms for casting the curb can be done by the eye. Con- 
siderable readjustment of the scantling back and forth 
may be necessary to secure the best results. 

LIGHTING 

Various systems are used and all have their merits. 
They are, 1. Electric Light; 2. Gas; 3. Acetylene; and 4. 
Gasoline. The lighting system should be as inconspicuous 
as possible and all standards and lights should be in keep- 
ing with the surroundings. 

1. Electric Light. This method of lighting is the most 
common. All wires must be out of view. They are car- 
ried underground in lead conduits. The lights may be 
of the enclosed arc or the incandescent type — the former 
are usually preferred. Various kinds of ornamental iron 
posts are used, the wires being carried up inside the post. 

Either direct or alternating current may be employed, 
whichever is available. If the park is at some distance 
from the supply, the alternating current will be found to 
be cheaper. 

It is usual to provide distribution stations where the 



LIGHTING 73 



current enters the park, so that in case of accident, the 
entire park will not be thrown into darkness. 

Arc and incandescent lights may be connected either in 
multiple or series. It is possible to use both kinds of lights 
on the same circuit. 

The multiple system of wiring is generally preferred, 
especially when the number of lights is large, inasmuch as 
it is safer than the series system. The voltage commonly 
employed for multiple wiring is 110, though it may be 220 
and even 550, as in the case of a park illuminated by a 
trolley current. Willow Grove Park near Philadelphia is 
an example. To determine the voltage required for an arc 
light circuit in series, the rule is to multiply the voltage of 
each light, which is about 80, by the number of lights. 
Series wiring is frequently employed in small city squares. 

2. Gas. The plain jet does not give sufficient illumina- 
tion. Lights with mantles give a bright and satisfactory 
light. Gas can be used to advantage in districts where 
the price is low, as in the natural-gas belt. Gas mains 
should never be laid near trees and shrubbery. Leakage 
of gas exerts a very harmful effect on vegetable life. 

3. Acetylene. This gives a brilliant and satisfactory 
interior light, but is seldom used in park lighting by reason 
of the expense. The acetylene gas is piped in wrought-iron 
pipes. 

4. Gasoline. Gasoline lighting is cheap and satisfactory 
in several respects. The great drawback lies in time con- 
sumed in igniting the lamps. Each lamp is provided with 
a mantle, and a torch must be used to vaporize the gasoline. 



CHAPTER IV 

LABOR AND CONTRACTS 
Day Labor versus Contract Work 

THIS is a broad question. A few general remarks, 
however, can be made in this connection which may 
be of service. 

Park work involving the use of elaborate machinery can 
be done cheaper by contract. This apphes to such opera- 
tions as steam-shovel work, pile driving, bridge construc- 
tion and the erection of large buildings. 

Grading work and masonry construction can generally 
be done cheaper by contract, as can sewer construction and 
the laying of water pipe. 

The smoothing of the topsoil and its preparation for 
planting should be done by day labor if a well-organized 
superintendent's force can be gotten together. All garden- 
ing operations can be done much more satisfactorily by 
day labor. 

Occasionally, however, some of the heavier engineering 
operations may be executed by day labor under good organ- 
ization. Grading, path and drive construction, and even 
light masonry work have been done in this way. 

It is a well-known fact among contractors that they can 
get much more work out of men than can municipal and 
park departments. The reason is obvious. The contract- 
ing firm is better organized — usually with one man at the 
head who gains or loses financially on each contract. A 
laborer who is inefficient is immediately discharged. 

74 



TWO KINDS OF CONTRACTS 75 

By the other method, the work could be carried on 
satisfactorily if the foreman were free to discharge an 
inefficient workman. But this often is not the case, and 
the foremen themselves are frequently employed on the 
recommendation of some official or prominent citizen. 

Nevertheless the day labor method is coming more 
and more into vogue and appears to be giving good results 
when politics can be eliminated, as is often the case. The 
claim is made that the work can be done cheaper by day 
labor than by contract, since by the former method there 
is no profit to be included. Furthermore the park superin- 
tendent, by offering permanent employment in one locality, 
is able to attract to his force a class of steady labor to whom 
the contractor's inducements do not so strongly appeal. 

TWO KINDS OF CONTRACTS 

Park contracts are let either by the lump-sum or by 
the unit system. 

1. The Lump-sum System. By this method but one 
price is stated in the bid; namely, the cost for the entire 
work. This system is inelastic, but is used when the work 
in exact nature and amount is fully known before the con- 
tract is let. If the work is not fully known beforehand 
there will surely be claims for extras on the part of the con- 
tractor. 

2. The Unit System. This is the method usually 
employed in engineering. The work to be done is divided 
into different parts, such as earth excavation, sewers, cast 
iron, macadam pavements, etc. Approximate figures rep- 
resenting the amount of work to be done under each item 
are stated beforehand and each bidder submits his bid on 
the price per cubic yard of earth excavation, the price per 
lineal foot of sewers, the price per pound of cast iron, the 



76 LABOR AND CONTRACTS 

price per square yard of macadam pavement laid complete, 
etc., basing his total estimate on the above approximate 
estimate as given by the engineer. This system is elastic. 
The amounts of work under each heading can be increased 
or decreased, although not indefinitely. The increase or 
decrease permitted is usually not more than 20 per cent. 
If a contractor has bid low on earth excavation and high 
on sewers, he naturally would object to the amount of 
earth excavation being greatly increased or the lineal feet 
of sewers greatly reduced. Under the unit system it is not 
necessary to prepare complete plans of the work before it 
is begun. 

METHOD OF PROCEDURE 

In contemplating the execution of a piece of engineer- 
ing work, three questions must be decided by the board 
or commission having power. These are, first. What will 
be the cost? second. Is it advisable to do it? and third. 
Shall it be done by day labor or by contract? 

In determining the first question the engineer is con- 
sulted and asked for a report on the cost. This report 
may be made immediately in some cases, but in others 
considerable time may be required for its preparation. 

After knowing the cost, the advisability of doing the 
work is discussed and a decision arrived at. 

The question as to whether the work shall be done by 
day labor or by contract is usually referred to the engineer. 

THE ADVERTISEMENT 

An advertisement of the work is inserted in the local 
papers and sometimes in one or two of the leading technical 
journals. Unless the contract is to be let by the lump sum, 
the amounts of all the items are stated. The advertisement 



THE CONTRACTOR'S EXAMINATION OF THE PLANS 77 

also states the time and place for receiving bids and the 
amount of the proposal bond. 

THE CONTRACTOR'S EXAMINATION OF THE PLANS 

If the contract is a lump-sum contract the plans must 
be complete and perfect in every detail. If a unit-system 
contract, it is not necessary that the plans be entirely com- 
plete. 

These plans are usually blue-printed and prints are 
sometimes furnished to prospective bidders either free or 
for a deposit which is returned when the prints are returned. 
Sometimes no prints are furnished for distribution and 
prospective bidders are required to examine the plans in 
the office of the board or commission. Then again blue- 
prints are made on a reduced scale and are furnished 
free in booklet form to all responsible applicants. This 
method is up to dat'., convenient and cheap. Should 
any parts of the prints be too small to be perfectly in- 
telhgible, the full-size drawings can be examined at the 
office. The scales on all drawings which are to be 
reduced by photography must be graphical scales so that 
they may be reduced in the same ratio as any line on the 
drawing. 

It is advisable to furnish prospective bidders with full 
information in regard to the work. This will reduce the 
amounts of the bids. It is the universal practice of bidders 
to raise their bids where the element of uncertainty enters 
in. For this reason in sewer work it is advisable in many 
cases to make complete borings and prepare profiles, so that 
bidders may know just what they are likely to encounter. 
There may be a distinct understanding in the contract, 
however, that the party of the first part will not hold itself 
responsible for errors in said profiles nor become liable for 



78 LABOR AND CONTRACTS 

errors. Similarly, in other work, as much information 
should be furnished as possible. 

Prospective bidders should be advised to make a per- 
sonal examination of the site of the work and they should be 
notified that they themselves are held responsible for the 
accuracy of the information furnished by the party of the 
first part. It should be said, however, in this connection, 
that courts of law may not support the party of the first 
part in its effort to relieve itself of responsibiUty, especially 
where gross blunders have been made. 

Each prospective bidder is given a proposal blank and 
a set of specifications. The proposal blank is a form in 
which each bidder inserts his prices and fills out an agree- 
ment, stating that if he is awarded the contract he will 
accept it. The proposal also contains the bond to secure 
the agreement. 

The specifications, so called, are the specifications proper 
for all of the different kinds of work to be done under the 
contract; and also include a blank form similar to that in 
the proposal to be filled in by the successful bidder, to- 
gether with a contract bond to secure the agreement. As 
soon as the contract is duly executed, the proposal bonds 
all become void. 

The various articles in the specifications stating how the 
work is to be done should of course be suited to the par- 
ticular undertaking in question. The "paste-pot and 
scissors method " used by some engineers is not above 
criticism. Then, too, there are engineers who have a way 
of writing what may seem to be unnecessarily strict speci- 
fications to protect themselves against contractors on the 
lookout for loopholes in the agreement. Contractors soon 
learn the personahty of an engineer and in preparing their 
bids take it into consideration. 



THE SURETIES 79 



THE CONTRACTOR'S CALCULATIONS 

These are made after all the necessary information has 
been gathered in. Many contractors employ an engineer 
to make their computations and to fill in and submit the 
bid. Careful bookkeeping of costs and good system on the 
part of a contractor and his engineer yield good financial 
returns. Many contractors who do not take the trouble 
to accumulate cost data think that they know what the 
expense to them for various kinds of work will be, whereas 
they do not. This is especially so in such matters as earth 
excavation. Lack of system in preparing cost data on this 
one item alone has led to failures and ruin. The cost of re- 
moving a cubic yard of earth is a function of many 
component items, such as superintendence, plowing, picking, 
shoveling, carting, spreading, blacksmithing, etc. The cost 
of each of these items for various classes of material should 
be accurately known. 

THE SURETIES 

There are four ways of securing a proposal or contract, 
and in addition there is another form of insurance called 
Contractor's Liability Insurance, all of which will be 
disciissed. 

1. By the Bidder's Reputation. This may be said to 
be no surety at all in the strict sense. In small places and 
for unimportant work sometimes no bond is required. 
Should a bidder refuse to accept a contract awarded him, 
his reputation in that community is practically ruined and 
his hopes of securing more work of that or some other kind 
are practically destroyed. 

2. By Certified Check. For work of no great magnitude, 
this method is often followed. Each bidder submits with 



80 LABOR AND CONTRACTS 

his bid a certified check in the required amount. These 
certified checks are returned to all except the successful 
bidder and his check is returned when the contract is exe- 
cuted, the contract being secured by a contract bond, 
described under headings 3 and 4. 

3. The Personal Bond. Proposals and contracts may 
both be bonded in this way, though this kind of bond is not 
now in frequent use. The proposal may be thus bonded 
and the contract bonded by a surety company (see 4). 
The amount of bond is stated in the advertisement and may 
be equal to or less than the total cost of work. Thus, if 
the amount of the work is $100,000, each bondsman, there 
often being two, makes affidavit that he is worth $50,000 
above all his debts and liabihties of every nature. 

Personal bonds for the contract may be executed by the 
same men who acted as bondsmen in the proposal or they 
may be executed by others. When a bondsman signs a 
proposal bond he is Uable also for the contract should it 
be awarded to the bidder for whom he acted as bondsman. 
This obligation, however, is practically never taken ad- 
vantage of, nor abused. 

4. The Surety Company Bond. The obtaining of a 
surety company bond is purely a matter of business and 
thus is much more satisfactory than the individual bond, 
where obUgation is always incurred and where reciprocal 
favors are usually asked if no charge is made for the bond. 
A surety company before acting as bondsman for a contrac- 
tor makes searching investigation of his financial standing. 
If this is satisfactory the bond will be executed, for which 
a percentage payment is required. Surety companies do 
not necessarily make their investigation before the exe- 
cution of every bond, but use their discretion in the 
matter. When an applicant has once thoroughly satisfied 



MAKING OUT THE BID 81 

a surety company of his financial standing and ability as 
a contractor he has little or no trouble in getting bonds 
whenever he wants them unless the conditions are peculiar 
as to the amount or other attendant circumstances. Some 
contractors never use individual bonds and others only use 
them on proposals. 

5. Contractor's Liahility Insurance and Compensation, 
Insurance protects a contractor from suits for damages 
arising from personal injury or death to a workman or to 
an outsider. It thus protects a contractor from financial 
failure and thereby protects the bondsman as well. A 
surety company may require a contractor to obtain habihty 
insurance before it will act as bondsman. There are 
companies who make this type of insurance a specialty. 
The rates charged are proportional to the risk run and the 
magnitude of the work. They are higher for instance 
in heavy sewer work than they are in ordinary excavation. 

Several of our eastern states now have " Workmen's 
Compensation Laws," which provide for a compensation 
to be paid to an injured workman or to his family in case 
of death. Such a law has recently gone into effect (Jan. 1, 
1916) in the state of Pennsylvania. Whatever payment a 
contractor may be required to make to purchase insurance 
against payments of compensation will have to be included 
as one of the overhead charges and will increase the cost 
of the work accordingly. 

MAKING OUT THE BID 

This is done by the contractor or his engineer. All 
blank spaces in the proposal are filled in, the bonds duly 
executed and the bid enclosed in a sealed envelope. 



82 LABOR AND CONTRACTS 

SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS 

These are submitted to the board or commission, pref- 
erably pubhcly, at the time and place assigned. If the 
bids are thus submitted, the clerk of the board reads them 
aloud. If the bids are by the unit system, some minutes 
(or perhaps longer) will be required for the engineer to 
determine the order of the bidders. To do this he mul- 
tiplies the price bid for each item by the number of units 
of work as determined by the advertisement and then 
sums up the products. 

REJECTION OF BIDS 

The party of the first part reserves the right to reject 
any or all bids. The contract is awarded to the low 
bidder providing he is able to " qualify," unless his bid is 
seriously in excess of the amount of the preliminary esti- 
mate of cost. If, however, the low bidder is not accept- 
able either financially, personally, or in the matter of 
experience, the next low bidder may be awarded the 
contract providing his bid is satisfactory in amount. The 
rejection of the low bid is apt to give rise to adverse 
criticism. 

AWARDING THE CONTRACT 

The contract is often awarded on the same day on 
which the bids are received. Sometimes, however, in 
order that various matters may be considered, such as the 
responsibility of the low bidder and the cost of the work, 
the awarding of the contract is postponed. 



THE PAYMENTS 85 



EXECUTION OF THE CONTRACT 

The bidder to whom the contract is awarded is required 
to execute the agreement within a specified time. To do 
this he must aflBx his signature to the contract form in which 
all of the prices have been entered by the clerk of the board. 
The agreement is secured by individual bonds or a surety 
company bond, which constitutes a part of the contract. 
As mentioned before, a surety company usually requires 
a contractor to take out liability insurance before it exe- 
cutes the contract bond. After the contract is signed and 
the bond duly executed all of the proposals together with 
the accompanying bonds become at once void. 

STARTING THE WORK 

Active operations must be begun within a specified 
number of days, which is frequently ten. 

THE PAYMENTS 

Monthly Estimates. At the end of each month it is 
customary in many contracts to make a payment, but not 
in the whole amount of the work done. Sometimes 10 
per cent is retained and sometimes 25. It is not nec- 
essary for the engineer to make an accurate determination 
of the quantities, although, if to be on the safe side he 
underestimates the work, the contractor may be dissat- 
isfied, especially if his payroll and other obligations are 
heavy. 

The Final Estimate. When the work is satisfactorily 
completed a final estimate is prepared which is as exact as 
it is possible for the engineer to make. The final payment 
is equal to the total value of the work less the sum of the 
previous payments. 



86 LABOR AND CONTRACTS 

EXTRAS 

These, as are well known, give rise to dissatisfaction and 
dispute. A contract should be so framed that the approved 
bill for extras will be as small as possible. Considerable 
care and foresight are required on the part of the engineer 
in order to provide in the contract for contingencies which 
would otherwise be overlooked. The adjudication of the 
bill for extras is difficult and disagreeable. 

PENALTY CLAUSES 

If the work does not progress at the proper rate, it is 
the duty of the engineer to give notice to that effect. 

The " penalty clause " in most contracts imposes a 
certain charge per day for non-completion of the work on 
contract time. Provision is made in the specifications that 
the penalty be deducted from the moneys due the contractor 
on the final estimate. These clauses are apt to be very 
faulty from the legal point of view, notwithstanding the 
fact that, although written by the engineer, they are 
passed on by the counsel (see page 14). Contractors, as 
a rule, who know the law in such matters better than 
engineers, pay but httle attention to these " penalty 
clauses," knowing that they are nearly void. In order 
to overcome the legal difficulty involved in a penalty, the 
clause sometimes states that the charge made for non- 
completion of the work is not to be construed as a penalty 
but as liquidated damages. This clause will also not be 
upheld in court unless it can be shown that the damages 
claimed are those actually sustained. Courts of law in 
general are opposed to hard-and-fast agreements made in 
advance to cover damages which may be sustained for 
non-completion of the work on time. If, however, these 




Fig. 29. 



87 



PENALTY CLAUSES 89 



agreements are made so elastic as to adapt themselves 
to the individual case they will be upheld. This end may 
be attained by itemizing the damages as so much per day 
for engineering services, inspectors, clerks, office expenses, 
etc. An agreement made with the full understanding of 
both parties to the contract, stating that, in view of the 
difficulty of estimating in advance the exact amount of 
damages involved for non-completion of work on contract 
time, a certain sum per day is agreed upon as the actual 
liquidated damages as nearly as they can be estimated, 
will sometimes be upheld. 



CHAPTER V 

CONSTRUCTION 

BEGINNING OF OPERATIONS 

THE time for starting the work is stated in the specifica- 
tions. The time allowed is often " not later than ten 
days after the awarding of the contract." The necessary- 
machinery must be brought on the ground at once, and 
stables, shanties and offices provided. If there are any 
suitable buildings on the land, they may, with the en- 
gineer's permission, be used as stables and offices. In 
order that these buildings may be available until the 
completion of the work, it is desirable that their location 
be such that but Httle work shall remain to be done after 
their removal. In parks remote from town, the contractor 
is permitted to erect shanties for the men. Their needs 
are supphed by the company's store which, though neces- 
sary, needs regulation in its methods in order that the 
interests of the men may be protected. 

UNDERDRAINAGE 

Before any other operations can be accomphshed on 
swampy lands, the ground must be drained in order to 
lower the water-table. The laying of tile drains should 
be begun at the outlets, although in order to hasten the 
work operations may be begun at several parts of the 
system. Where fines of tile are laid without an outlet, 
water will always collect at the starting-points and this 

90 




Fig. 30. — T-ine and Grade for Sewers. 



♦ '-'SI't - ^ 




Fig. 31. 



91 



SEWERS 93 



must be pumped out before the work can be joined. The 
ditching is done by pick and shovel. The shovels may be 
either short-handled or long-handled. The former are 
generally better, as the men are more familiar with their 
use. Grade is given by stakes driven on the side of the 
trench on which the cut from the top of the stake is marked 
in feet and inches. These stakes are driven every 50 feet 
except for main ditches, when they should be 25 feet apart. 
The minimum grade for mains is 1 inch per 100 feet and for 
laterals 3 inches. The trenches are hollowed out on the 
bottoms for the collars so that the weight on the tile may 
not be borne at the ends. Tile drains should be laid 
below frost and out of reach of rootlets, particularly of 
willows. Professor Mapes, who is quoted by Colonel 
Waring, specifies that drains must be 3 feet deep when 20 
feet apart, 4 feet deep when 40 feet apart, and 5 feet deep 
when 80 feet apart. 

In backfiUing no stones should be placed closer than 6 
inches to the tile and the subsoil should be thrown in 
first. Some engineers require that in excavating the trench 
the topsoil be placed on one side and the subsoil on the 
other. The backfilling is tamped in 9-inch layers to secure 
the best results. 

SEWERS 

Line and grade are best given by placing 2-inch by 
10-inch planks transversely in the ground every 50 feet. 
These planks do not have to be set at any exact elevation, 
but they should be firmly embedded and should be of suffi- 
cient length so that when the trench is excavated they 
will remain immovable. The center line can be located 
by driving a tack on top of the plank. After the excavation 
work is partially finished a 1-inch by 2-inch strip is nailed 



94 CONSTRUCTION 



vertically on the plank with one edge exactly on the center 
line of the trench. This strip must be plumb. Then by 
the use of a wye-level, a mark is made on the side of strip 
and a nail driven a whole number of feet above the invert 
elevation. This is also done at the next 50 feet and a 
string stretched between the nails. The string may thus 
be stretched for some considerable distance at the given 
number of feet above the invert grade line. Errors in 
level work are easily detected. If by reason of an abrupt 
change in cut the line strikes the board, or too high or too 
low above or below it, the string may be lowered or raised 
a foot or two. The usual methods of pipe-laying and in- 
spection should be followed and will not be discussed in 
this connection. (See Fig. 30, page 91.) 

Wet trenches can be kept free from water by use of a 
hand-pump or the pulsometer (see Fig. 28, page 83). In 
park work a hoisting engine is generally available and 
connection may be made between the pulsometer and the 
boiler of the hoisting engine, a low fire being kept up 
over night by the night watchman. In the morning the 
trench will be in a suitable condition for work. 

The backfilUng should be tamped in layers. If the 
main line trench is filled in before the laterals are laid, a 
plank is placed in a vertical position against each wye 
connection and sufficiently long to project above the 
ground. 

GRADING 

staking Out the Work. Grade stakes are set at the in- 
tersections of the cross-section lines and at every change 
of slope. The stakes are marked on the side with the proper 
cut or fill measured from the top of stake or they are so 
driven that their tops are to grade, in which case the tops 



TOPSOIL STRIPPING 97 

are marked with red water-proof crayon. Stakes set to 
grade are better than cut or fill stakes and should be used 
wherever possible even though a slight hole may be required. 
Laths may be driven alongside to indicate their positions. 
Cut and fill stakes should be marked in feet and inches and 
not in feet and tenths. For heavy fills long poles are 
sometimes used with their tops at the finished grade, thus 
doing away with the labor of setting more stakes after the 
first have been covered up. Where the cut is considerable, 
the first cut stakes set will not remain during the excavation 
operations unless left on little hillocks, and to do this is 
expensive. Therefore after the first cut stakes have been 
plowed up or otherwise removed, other stakes in the same 
position will be necessary. 

Topsoil Stripping. The first thing to be done is to 
strip the entire tract of its topsoil, which may be from 6 
inches to a foot in depth. The soil is piled in large mounds 
with spiral drives up the sides in positions where there is 
to be little cut or fill. It would appear to the lajnnan 
cheaper to excavate a certain part of the tract to the 
proper subgrade and then to cover it with topsoil stripped 
from an adjacent tract. This, however, may not be the 
case, and to systematize the work and avoid confusion, the 
entire site is stripped at the beginning of operations. In 
large operations the topsoil is piled ; in small ones the top- 
soil may be spread direct, thus saving the cost of double 
handling of the material. (Figs. 7, page 29, and 10, page 
37.) 

Excavation by Pick and Shovel. The soil is broken 
up by picks and shoveled into dump carts, skid wagons or 
dump wagons by the use of round-pointed, short-handled 
shovels. From the engineer's point of view this method is 
the most satisfactory, because the subgrade can be dressed 



98 CONSTRUCTION 



more accurately and because the grade stakes can all be 
preserved until the finished grade is reached. Carts are 
used for short hauls and wagons for long hauls. 

Excavation by Plow and Shovel. By this method the 
soil is broken up by the pick- or rooter-plow, whose point 
is much heavier and longer than that on an ordinary 
agricultural plow. (See Fig. 26, page 83.) Carts or 
wagons are used as in the preceding case. It is of course 
much cheaper to plow the soil than to loosen it by hand 
providing that the work is of such a character that the 
plow is available. 

Excavation by Grading Machine. The Austin Excavat- 
ing Grader is a machine well adapted to topsoil stripping 
over broad areas. This machine is driven by 12 horses, 
8 in front and 4 behind, or by a traction engine. It con- 
sists of a heavy plow which throws up the soil on a revolving 
belt which carries it up and then drops it in a dump wagon 
driven alongside. At least two drivers are required and 
sometimes four at the beginning of operations in order 
to properly manage the horses. One man is needed to 
operate the plow. (See Fig. 11, page 37.) 

By Steam Shovel. Where the cuts are very heavy and 
the work large in amount, it will pay the contractor to use 
a steam shovel. He will also need a few hght locomotives 
and an outfit of dump cars, and probably one or more 
centrifugal pumps to keep the pit where the shovel is located 
free from water. The filling is done from trestles. The 
settlement will thus be much more than by the other 
methods where the fill is consoUdated by wheels and horses' 
hoofs. It is not advisable to attempt road construction 
on filling thus made until thorough settlement has taken 
place, nor to lay sewer and water pipes, unless tamping 
has been resorted to. 



DREDGING 99 



Fig. 31, page 91, furnished by the Essex County Park 
Commission, shows a shovel making the first cut in the 
Middle Division of Branch Brook Park. This work was 
necessary in order to create an artificial lake. 

In park work much water is encountered in the excava- 
tion for lakes, which must be removed through sewers or 
else by low-hft centrifugal pumps. Fig. 32, page 95, 
shows the same work at Branch Brook Park in a more 
advanced condition. This work was particularly difficult 
by reason of large volumes of surface and ground water. 

By Dredge. Where large bodies of water must be 
deepened some form of dredge will be necessary. The 
accompanying illustration shows a clam-shell dredge re- 
moving earth and vegetable growths at Weequahic Reser- 
vation, one of the Essex County Parks. This lake is 
adjacent to the Newark Meadows (salt marshes) and 
originally was quite shallow. It was increased to a depth 
of 8 feet in order to prevent the growth of water plants, 
the excavated material being largely used for surface 
dressing. (Fig. 33, page 101.) 

Fig. 34, page 105, shows a hydrauhc dredge at work at 
Lake Nokomis, Minneapolis. This dredge is mounted on a 
timber hull, 80 feet long. It is electrically operated by 
an alternating current of 2300 volts. The main pump has 
a 15-inch suction and discharge, the pump revolving at 
either 250 or 305 R.P.M. as desired. The two winding 
shafts each run at 22 R.P.M. There are five drums used as 
follows: one each for the right and left spud, one each for 
the right and left swings, and one for raising and lowering 
the suction ladder. The ladder and cutter dig to a depth of 
28 feet. For a greater depth a plain suction sleeve is used. 
The dredge is provided with 1600 feet of pontoons with 
pipe and also 4000 feet of shore pipe. The illustration 



100 CONSTRUCTION 



referred to was furnished by Mr. J. A. Ridgway, Secretary 
of the Board of Park Commissioners, and the description 
is from the 32d annual report. 

By Drag Scraper. For very short hauls, not above 
100 feet, the drag scraper can be used to good advantage. 
The soil must first be broken by plow or by pick. This 
work is very hard on the horses, as they are not allowed 
the regular breathing spell which obtains in all other work 
with the exception of that done by the excavating grader 
and wheel scraper. 

By Wheel Scraper. For hauls from 100 to 300 feet the 
wheel scraper may be used providing that the ground is 
level and the cut is fairly uniform. No other class of work 
is as hard on the horses as this, and drivers should be in- 
structed to stop them occasionally. A bucking team must 
sometimes be hitched on the pole in front of the other 
team in order to load the scraper. (See Fig. 27, page 83.) 

At Westside Park, Newark, N. J., peculiar methods 
were adopted for the excavation of an artificial lake by 
reason of the unusual character of the material removed. 
Below a surface crust of topsoil about a foot thick was 
encountered a deposit of muck consisting entirely of vege- 
table matter, absolutely free from sand and clay. The 
excavation reached a depth of 8 or 9 feet, though in some 
places the muck extended downward for 35 feet. The 
excavated material was used as topsoil and supported 
phenomenal growths after a year's decomposition. To 
remove it three methods were adopted — first, by means 
of derricks; second, by means of tram cars; and third, 
by the assistance of a traveling cableway. In Figure 35, 
page 109, are shown three derricks with the black muck in 
adjacent piles. This of course had afterwards to be dis- 
tributed over the finished subgrade. In the background is 



MUCK EXCAVATION 103 



seen a pile-driver at work on a timber bulkhead to support 
the farther shore. This bulkhead was constructed in 
accordance with the general description on page 54. In 
the foreground is seen part of a shore wall along the nearer 
shore. The exceedingly unstable character of the soil 
can be seen from a close examination of the houses in the 
background, several of which are out of plumb. In Fig. 
36, page 113, is observed the second method of excavation, 
as mentioned in this paragraph. The pit was kept free 
from water by means of a pulsometer as shown. 

After the lake excavation was well along, good upland 
subsoil was dumped over the timber bulkhead as described 
in general on page 54. In sinking to a condition of equihb- 
rium a considerable quantity of muck was thereby dis- 
placed. This was all removed by means of a cableway 
and buckets, since the bottom of the lake had become 
exceedingly soft and was incapable of supporting tracks 
or run- ways. 

The Essex County park lands include a great many 
acres of originally poor and wet soils. These have been 
developed into lakes and water courses, thereby greatly 
enhancing the beauty of the parks. On the other hand, 
by means of judicious filHng, marshes and areas of shallow 
submergence can be transformed into valuable park 
property. An example is seen in Figs. 3 and 4 on pages 
15 and 19, loaned by Commissioner Cabot Ward of the 
Department of Parks of the City of New York. The 
filUng, as stated by Acting Commissioner Valentine, was 
largely deposited under permits issued to excavators and 
contractors. At the upper end of Riverside Park Extension 
a good deal of the fill was obtained from excavations for 
the Catskill Aqueduct. 

Mr. G. A. Parker, Superintendent of Parks of Hartford, 



104 CONSTRUCTION 



Conn., has made a careful study of the time element in 
excavation work by shovel, which he has presented in a 
paper in the Proceedings of the Connecticut Civil Engi- 
neers and Surveyors' Association. His theory as far as 
the laborers are concerned is divided into three parts: 

First. That a shoveler can do maximum work when he 
shovels 5 shovelfuls in 50 seconds. It takes each man about 

5 seconds for one shovelful. He will therefore work 25 
seconds and rest 25 seconds, and so on- throughout the day. 
The rest periods will be his absolutely without any inter- 
ference on the part of the man in charge of the work. 
Experiments were made on 4 shovelfuls in 40 seconds, 

6 shovelfuls in 60 seconds, 10 shovelfuls in 100 seconds, 
also, the result being that 5 shovelfuls in 50 seconds gave 
the greatest amount of work. By this method, after 
deducting 5 per cent, for waste time, Mr. Parker claims 
that an average laborer can handle 22| cubic yards in a 
10-hour day. 

Second. That 4 men, 1 working alone and loading 
10 yards in a day, 1 working in a gang of 5 and loading 
12 yards, 1 working in a gang of 10 and loading 15 yards, 
and 1 working in a gang of 30 and loading 22 yards, are 
equally tired at the end of the day. It is Mr. Parker's 
opinion that laborers on this class of excavation should 
work in gangs of 30 men each, subdivided into crews of 
15, one crew for every cart. 

Third. Each man is required to count his shovelfuls. 
In each 50 seconds he must load 5 shovelfuls, no less, no 
more. The claim is made that the counting has a beneficial 
and stimulating effect. 



5^1 



mi 






CO 

6 

1-4 





Ml^' 



Mi 



PILE DRIVING 107 



PILE DRIVING 

Wooden Piles are generally of spruce, pine or oak. 
Hemlock does not possess sufficient elasticity. If they are 
to be used as columnar piles it is necessary that they be 
absolutely straight ; if as bearing piles they should be fairly 
straight ; and in either case of sound timber. The minimum 
diameter of the butts is 12 inches and of the tips 8 inches. 
Piles should be sharpened to a point before driving and 
sometimes it is necessary to protect the point by an iron 
shoe. The butts are cut off square and adzed so that a 
wrought-iron band may be slipped on to protect the pile 
in driving. Piles should be driven until the movement is 
not more than one-half an inch under a 1500-pound ram 
falling 15 feet on the last blow. 

Piles are used in park engineering in constructing founda- 
tions for walls, abutments, spillways, etc. When used in 
foundations it is better to cap them with concrete than to 
attempt to construct a timber grillage. 

The land machine traveling on rollers is the cotomon 
type. Fig. 29, page 87, shows a land machine driving verti- 
cal piles for the construction of a timber and earth bulkhead. 
(See Figs. 35 and 36 on pages 109 and 113.) This machine 
is held upright by guy ropes attached to '' dead men " or 
to posts set in the ground. These posts are sometimes 
twisted into the ground where the soil is not very hard. 
This method consists in attaching a long cross-piece to the 
post by means of a chain. One or two men at each end of 
the cross-piece by walking in a circle and pressing downward 
thus cause the post to sink into the ground. The ease 
simphcity and effectiveness of this method is astonishing 
to those who have never witnessed it before. 

Concrete Piles are of two general types — those that are 



108 CONSTKUCTION 

moulded before driving and those that are moulded after- 
ward. Those of the first class must be reinforced. The 
Chenoweth and the Cummings and the Hennebique are 
pre-moulded piles, and there are also many unpatented 
types of the same class. Those of the second class are of 
various forms, as the Simplex, the Raymond and the 
Pedestal. 

Concrete piles are much to be preferred when acting 
as columns, resting on a hard substratum. They are more 
durable than wooden piles in ground which will subsequently 
be dried out through the absorptive action of adjacent 
brick sewers and are thus especially suited for use in cer- 
tain park lands. They are used to support arch abutments 
and masonry retaining walls. 

MASONRY WALLS AND STEPS 

Retaining Walls. One of the most important of the 
practical matters to be attended to is the excavation for 
the foundation. It is not necessary that the foundation 
should extend down to the bottom of frost. The heaving 
effect of frost can be entirely ehminated by digging down 
2| feet below the finished grade. 

The foundation pit should be excavated true with ample 
room on the front side for the construction of a good square 
toe. Skimping on the front side of the foundation has 
resulted in the failure of many retaining walls. 

Walls for shore protection should be founded on good 
soil. The use of spud piles is not in general to be recom- 
mended. It is better to excavate to a hard foundation. 
The reason for this lies in the fact that excavation in front 
of a shore wall or sea wall permits fine sands, " Hver " 
and quick-sands to flow away from under the foundation, 
thus endangering its stability. 



WATER PIPES 111 



The neat lines for retaining walls are obtained by- 
setting " A-frames " in position by the help of a transit 
so that the neat line on top of the footing and the neat 
line under the coping can be located by stretching strings 
from frame to frame or else from a frame to the finished 
wall. 

In order to secure a perfectly straight coping, especially 
in long walls along city streets, it is suggested that a tran- 
sit line be established on top of the wall before the coping 
is placed, say 2 inches back from the neat line. This line 
can be marked by crow-feet every 25 feet. 

Retaining walls at the foot of a slope are separated from 
it by a swale gutter. The coping is so designed as to throw 
the water falling on it backward into the gutter, where it is 
collected by catch-basins or inlets. 

The matter of pointing is very important. The joints 
should be thoroughly raked to a depth of at least 1| inches 
before the pointing mortar is applied. Depressed joints 
pressed in with a pointer's tool are much superior in dura- 
bility to raised joints. Only the best Portland cement 
should be used for this purpose. 

WATER PIPES 

The practice of laying park water pipes prior to the 
completion of the grading work has sometimes been re- 
sorted to. It has been claimed that this is advantageous 
in lands to be filled and no doubt it is from the contractor's 
standpoint, as considerable digging is thereby avoided. 
The practice, however, is open to serious objection, as in 
some places the pipes are almost if not entirely uncovered 
and the driving over them of wheel-scrapers, dump wagons, 
etc., frequently seriously damages the pipe. Furthermore 
if the filling operations are not completed before winter. 



112 CONSTRUCTION 



the pipes are apt to freeze and burst, as they are seldom free 
from water in low places. 

All pipe should be thoroughly tested before the back- 
filling takes place. This can be done by admitting city 
water into the system and examining the pipes for leaky 
joints, pin holes and spUt seams. If a higher pressure is 
desired the pipes can be filled with water and the supply 
shut off. Then by attaching a hand pump with pressure 
gauge to a small nipple tapped into the pipe the pressure 
can be raised as high as desired with the addition of but 
very little water. Sometimes where no water supply is 
available sections of the system must be filled by means of 
the hand pump. This is a very slow process for cast iron 
pipe but not very difficult with the smaller wrought iron 
sizes. All defective pipe should be removed and no plugging 
of holes should be permitted. 

Water hammer is very likely to occur when new pipes 
are filled with water. To avoid this open up a few lawn 
hydrants, especially at the lower parts of the system. 

PATHS 

The excavation for path foundations should be properly 
formed and of full depth over the entire cross-section. The 
subgrade is then rolled and filled in with cinders to the proper 
depth. These cinders should be of the gas-works quality, 
sharp and clean. Ashes will not do. The cinders are then 
wetted by means of a sprinkling cart and thoroughly rolled. 
On the cinders is placed the pavement proper whether of 
gravel, cement, asphalt or brick. 

Cement, brick and asphalt pavements are laid between 
2-inch by 4-inch scantUngs to hold them in position. These 
scantlings are held in place by means of stakes. As park 
walks are usually curved, the scantlings must be curved to 



THE MACADAM PAVEMENT 115 

fit the plan. This curving is best done in the field by the 
aid of the eye alone. By the exercise of due care in aUgning 
and leveling the scantlings, high-grade work can be secured. 

The practice of using round field stone for gravel path 
foundations is not to be commended, as the stone works 
up to the surface. Gravel paths should be thoroughly 
wetted and rolled before being opened to the pubHc. 

Cement paths should not be laid in freezing weather un- 
less the work is carefully protected over night by straw. 
If the mortar freezes it will have to be removed. The 
surface coat, usually 1 inch in thickness, should follow the 
3-inch foundation layer of concrete before the latter has 
had time to dry out. A heavy rain falling on a freshly 
laid cement walk washes out the cement and leaves the 
surface in a pitted and porous condition requiring removal. 

DRIVES 

The Macadam Pavement. The first thing to be done 
in the construction work is to excavate to subgrade. The 
subgrade should be thoroughly rolled with a 10-ton road 
roller. All soft spots which are revealed by the rolling 
process should be removed and the holes filled in with good 
earth. The subgrade should be parallel to the finished 
surface. The foundation is then placed. Four inches of 
2|-inch broken stone are sufficient for a macadam and 7 
inches of telford foundation for the better class of roads. 
The macadam foundation should be carefully spread with 
forks and sprinkled with coarse screenings and wetted and 
rolled. The telford foundation is prepared by placing 
stone at least 7 inches high in such a way that the edges are 
upward. These stones must all be placed by hand. All 
points projecting higher than 7 inches are napped off with 
napping hammers. On top of the foundation is placed 



116 CONSTRUCTION 



2 or 3 inches of If -inch stone, which is wetted and rolled. 
The surfacing consists of an inch of screenings thoroughly 
wetted and rolled. Some engineers use a little earth binder 
between the courses and even on top of the finished pave- 
ment. 

The best water-bound broken-stone road soon ravels and 
disintegrates if subjected to the destructive action of 
rapidly moving automobiles unless special preventive 
measures are resorted to. In order to protect roads already 
built and construct new roads in a more durable manner, 
the following methods are adopted: 

1. Sprinkling with Fresh Water. As carried on in the 
past this has been very expensive and in municipal practice 
has often cost over $500 per mile per annum. Mr. S. 
Whinery, M. Am. Soc. C.E., strongly advocates the use of 
water under improved conditions which he admits are 
necessary to make this method a success. When the 
watering is properly done he is of the opinion that the 
wear from travel is no greater than when a Hght oil is 
used. By properly watering the pavement he states that 
raveling can be prevented. Furthermore there will be no 
dust if the pavement is constantly moist. Mr. Whinery 
advocates the use of power sprinklers instead of the old- 
fashioned water wagons — sprinklers which shall be driven 
by power and which shall deliver the water under a con- 
stant head regulated by a pump. The author is of the 
opinion that Mr. Whinery's method of sprinkling would 
be especially successful in parks where opportunities for 
carrying on the work under the most favorable conditions 
would be possible. Here in the park the sprinkling would 
be done by an employe under the supervision of a foreman 
or superintendent who would make it his business to see 
that the work was carried on efficiently. 



THE MACADAM PAVEMENT 117 

2. Sprinkling with Salt Water. The results are more 
durable than fresh-water sprinkling, since the salts in the 
water are hygroscopic in their properties. Should the 
pavement become dry, the dust containing salt is thrown 
into the air and is extremely irritating to the throat and eyes. 

3. Sprinkling with Water and Calcium Chloride. This 
salt is strongly hygroscopic and roads treated in this manner 
have proved quite satisfactory in England, where the cli- 
mate is moist. The mixture to be used is 1 pound to 1 gallon 
of water, using f of a gallon of the solution for each square 
yard. Ten applications per season are usually sufficient. 

Calcium-chloride treatment has been adopted by the 
Metropolitan Park Commission of Boston and by the 
Department of Parks of Hartford, Conn. 

Calcium chloride is also appHed as a dry powder, the 
pavements being first swept by hand. The amount of 
chloride used varies from f to 2| pounds per square yard. 

4. Sprinkling with an oil emulsion consisting of water, 
oil and an alkaH. Vegetable oils, crude petroleum and 
coal tar have been used in municipal practice. Potash, 
soda, ammonia and soap solutions are the mediums em- 
ployed to render the oil miscible with the water. The 
mixture is sprinkled from an ordinary watering cart, though 
a power sprinkler as described on page 119 would give 
more satisfactory results. The surface may be left un- 
covered or else treated with a thin coat of sand. 

5. Treating the Surface with Light Oils and Light Tars. 
The oils and tars are distributed preferably by pressure dis- 
tributors. Those with hoods have been employed to pro- 
tect pedestrians. The palfiatives employed are vegetable 
oils, paraffin and asphaltic petroleums, tar oils, water-gas 
tars, coal-gas tars and various patented compounds. 

This treatment is effective in laying the dust for about 



118 CONSTEUCTION 



6 weeks, though disintegration of the surface may begin in 
3 weeks. 

Col. Spencer Cosby describes the use of oil in the 
Washington parks as follows: 

" All ruts and holes in the surface of the road are first 
repaired by cleaning out the cavity, filling it with coarse 
stone, which is covered with a coating of hot, heavy^ 
asphaltic oil, then sprinkling a light coat of screenings over 
the oil and finally compacting the mass by ramming. 
When all holes have been repaired, the surface of the road 
is thoroughly cleaned with rattan brooms, care being 
taken to remove all loose materials and caked dirt or dust 
so that the stone forming the wearing surface of the road 
shall be exposed and clean. When the road is entirely 
free from moisture, and during warm, dry weather, if possi- 
ble, a light asphaltic oil is spread without being heated 
over its surface by means of sprinkling wagons. One- 
third to one-half gallon of oil to the square yard usually 
forms the first application. To allow it to penetrate into 
the surface, the road is closed to traffic for at least 48 hours 
after the first application. At the end of this time the 
surface of the road is covered with a thin coating of clean, 
coarse, sharp sand or broken-stone screenings, free from 
dust; it is then rolled and traffic allowed to go over it. A 
cubic yard of sand or screenings usually covers from 75 to 
125 square yards of road surface. In this climate and under 
the conditions of traffic obtaining on our park roads, the 
oiling treatment described above keeps the surface in 
excellent condition for a year. It is never dusty and is 
muddy only when for a few hours after a heavy thaw the 
skid chains of automobiles tear up the surface. The sub- 
sequent passage of automobiles without chains soon irons 
out the roadway. At the end of the year the surface of 



THE MACADAM PAVEMENT 119 

the road is again thoroughly cleaned, from ^ to | of a gallon 
of oil to the square yard under normal conditions is spread 
over it, and the road closed for 48 hours and covered with 
sand or screenings as before. This treatment is continued 
from year to year. 

" Instead of handhng the oil in barrels, we have found it 
much cheaper to buy it delivered in tank cars, from which 
it is unloaded into the sprinkUng wagons. A pressure- 
tank wagon was used to advantage for the first application 
of oil to the road surface, but ordinary sprinkler wagons 
with an oil-distributing attachment and a squeegee fixed 
behind the distributor were found more economical and 
equally efficient in spreading the oil the second year. 
To insure coating all parts of the road with an oil layer of 
uniform thickness, men with stiff brooms followed the 
sprinkler." 

6. Surfacing macadam pavements with asphaltic oils, 
asphalts, coal-gas tars and water-gas tars hy one application 
to form a surface which endures for at least one year. 

The application of the bituminous material must be 
preceded by a thorough cleaning of the macadam road 
which is to be treated. Pavements whose surfaces are of 
the larger sizes of broken stone offer a good bond for the 
bituminous application, which may be made by hand or by 
gravity or pressure distributors. A type of American 
pressure distributor is shown in Fig. 37, page 121. 

Pressure distributors seem to have an advantage over 
gravity distributors in that by their use a better bond is 
secured between the macadam and the surface apphca- 
tion. The explanation seems to be found in the washing 
away of the dust film coating the macadam surface due to 
the high velocity of the bituminous material as discharged 
from the nozzles of the distributor. 



120 CONSTRUCTION 



The amount of tar or asphalt necessary is about j to § 
gallon per square yard. 

On top of this must be placed a thin layer of sand, 
gravel or screenings, from 7 to 35 pounds per square yard. 
In England the top dressing has been omitted, but in this 
country it is generally specified, since by its use the road 
may be much sooner opened to traffic. Though rolling is 
not absolutely necessary, it greatly improves the surface. 
Fig. 38 shows a type of road roller used in the Boston 
parks. 

For parks with narrow, winding, and steep drives or 
paths a tandem roller is to be preferred. Fig. 16, page 49, 
shows a special tandem roller built for this purpose which 
combines the short wheel base and narrow tread of the 
tandem roller with the high compression given by the three- 
wheeled roller. 

7. Impregnating Earth Roads with Crude Oils. This 
method originated in California, where a high-grade asphaltic 
oil is plentiful. The process consists in loosening the soil 
for a depth of 6 inches. Heated oil is then applied and 
thoroughly kneaded into the soil by means of a " rolling 
tamper." The work can be done only in warm dry weather. 
Porous soils are better adapted to this treatment than heavy 
ones. Three hundred barrels per mile to be applied once 
each year are sufficient for a 12-foot roadway. 

8. Impregnating New Macadam Pavements with Bitumi- 
nous Materials by the Penetration Method. There are several 
methods employed, for which see Highway Engineering, 
by Blanchard and Drowne, to which work the author is 
indebted for much of the information here presented on 
pavements. One of the best is as follows: 

The upper course is built of crusher run from l|-inch to 
^-inch size. On this without further filling of the voids 




Courtesy Austin-Western Road Machinery Co. 

Fig. 37. — Pressure Distributor. 




Courtesy Buffalo Steam Roller Co. 

Fig. 38. — Pavement Repairs at Boston. 121 



THE BITUMINOUS CONCRETE PAVEMENT 123 



the bituminous material is applied hot. The rolling may 
be done either before or after this application. Some- 
times if the rolling is done afterwards, the rolls are apt to 
pick up the surface. If they are wet or oiled this difficulty 
will be avoided. About 1| gallon of bituminous road 
material is required for each square yard. This should 
be appUed in dry weather only, preferably when the weather 
is warm, and it must be appUed uniformly. The bitumi- 
nous materials used are asphalts, heavy asphaltic oils, 
refined water-gas and coal tars and various combinations 
of these materials. 

General Remark. The patrol system of maintenance, 
which in municipal and state work has not been found so 
successful in America as in Europe, owing to governmental 
conditions, especially commends itself for parks where a 
well-organized force is always available. Where the 
bituminous material exudes to the surface there should 
be an appUcation of sand or screenings. Disintegrated 
spots should be removed and filled with a mixed bituminous 
aggregate, followed by rolling. 

9. Bituminous Concrete. The foundation layer should 
be 4 to 8 inches in depth of broken stone or telford. At 
Lincoln Park, Chicago, the bituminous concrete was laid 
as follows by Mr. Arthur S. Lewis. The bituminous 
mixture consisted of |-inch limestone, torpedo sand and 
building sand to which asphaltic cement to the amount 
of 8 per cent, by weight was added. It was appfied in a 
layer 2| inches deep and rolled with a 10-ton tandem roller 
by which the bituminous layer was compressed about | 
inch. After the rolling a squeegee coat of pure asphalt 
was apphed, using | gallon per square yard applied imme- 
diately after the rolling. On the squeegee coat was spread 
a thin layer of granite screenings and the roUing was re- 



124 CONSTRUCTION 



repeated. This pavement for boulevard construction is 
reported to be giving excellent satisfaction. 

A large number of mixers are on the market for hot 
mixing of the materials of both portable and stationary- 
types. 

There are several proprietary bituminous concrete 
pavements before the public which while giving good results 
will not be discussed in this connection. 

The Brick Pavement. This is a type of pavement 
well adapted for park entrances and plazas where driving 
is heavy. It is practically dustless and very durable. 

The foundation of a modern brick pavement consists 
of 4 to 6 inches of concrete on which is placed an inch of 
sand, clean, moderately coarse and free from loam and 
pebbles. The sand is leveled off with a template, which 
gives it a true surface. The pavers are required to stand 
on the brick already laid. 

The sand filler has been abandoned and the joints are 
now filled with cement grout, coal tar, asphalt or a patented 
filler of bituminous nature. 

In order to provide for expansion and contraction a 
thin strip of wood is placed between the curb and the 
pavement. This strip is afterward removed and the space 
filled with a bituminous filler. Similar transverse joints 
are placed from 25 to 50 feet apart. 

The Concrete Pavement. This type of pavement 
might well be employed for entrances or plazas or wherever 
the driving is heavy. Its appearance is to be preferred to 
that of the brick pavement for park purposes. The author 
believes that the concrete pavement will soon come into 
favor with park authorities. There are two methods 
of construction, the Mixing Method and the Grouting 
Method. 



CURB 125 

The Mixing Method. A two-course pavement is the 
more common in municipal practice and will be briefly 
described here. On the finished and rolled subgrade is 
deposited a layer of 1 to 2| to 5 concrete which should 
be 4 inches thick after tamping. The wearing course 
may be made of concrete of the proportions one part 
cement, one part sand and one part j- to f -inch granite or 
trap chips. The wearing course should be 2 inches thick. 
The leveUng off of the wearing course is done with a wooden 
template resting on scantling set true to line and grade. 
Transverse joints for expansion are made every 25 feet. 

The Grouting Method. The method used by the Has- 
sam Paving Company will be briefly set forth. On the rolled 
subgrade is placed a layer of broken stone ranging from 
1| to 2| inches and rolled down to a thickness of 4 inches. 
This is grouted with a 1 to 3 grout. The surface layer 
consists of a 2-inch layer of crushed trap poured with a 
1 to 2 grout. On the surface layer is thinly spread a thick 
grout consisting of 1 part cement, 1 part sand and 1 part 
trap screenings the size of a pea. This is broomed into 
the surface with stiff brooms. The Long Island Motor 
Parkway pavement was constructed by the Hassam method. 

Concrete pavements are apt to be slippery in winter. 
To prevent this they have been covered with a bituminous 
coat in which is incorporated small trap rock chips. 

Curb. Curb may be of bluestone, sandstone, granite 
or concrete. In order to preserve the aUgnment of a stone 
curb a concrete foundation is used, the sand foundation 
having become practically obsolete. The setting of the 
curb should take place before the pavement is constructed. 

Straight curb should be carefully aligned. It is the cus- 
tom to set a piece of curb every 25 feet by aid of the engi- 
neer's measurements and then stretch a mason's Une 



126 CONSTRUCTION 



between, thus determining the line and grade of all 
intermediate pieces. 

Brick drives must be lined with curb. This is generally 
fiush with the surface of the pavement. A hollow vitrified- 
block curb and drain has recently been used which is also 
flush with the surface of the pavement, which it holds in 
place. 

LIGHTING 

The proper methods of park illumination together with 
practical hints which should prove of value to the inexperi- 
enced park engineer are presented on pages 72 and 73. 
Detailed descriptions of electric, gas, acetylene and gasoline 
lighting may be found in works on Illuminating Engineering. 



INDEX 



Acetylene lighting, 73 
Advertisement for bids, 76 
Architectural treatment, 36 

Bay Ridge Parkway, 41, 70 
Bituminous concrete, 123 
Bituminous pavements, 117, 118, 

119, 120, 123 
Blanchard and Drowne, 120 
Blue Hills Reservation, 10 
Bonds, contract, 79 
Boston parks, 6, 9 
Branch Brook Park, 6, 99 
Brick pavement, 71, 124 
Bronx Park, 8 
Brooklyn parks, 6, 8 
Bulkheads, 54, 55, 103, 109 

Cableway, 103 

Calcium chloride as a dust palli- 
ative, 71, 117 
Cambridge parks, 10 
Catch basins, 44, 55, 65 
Central Park, 2, 6, 7, 21 
Chicago parks, 9, 123 
City planning, 9 
Classification of parks, 6 
Cole, H. J., iv 
Compensation laws, 81 
Concrete pavements, 124,' 125 
Condemnations, 24 
Contract work versus day labor, 74 
Contractor's liability, 81 
Contracts: r 

awarding of, 82 

bids, preparation of, 81 

bonds, 79 



Contracts: 

calculations for, 79 

examination of plans, 77 

execution of, 85 

extras, 86 

lump sum, 75 

payments, 85 

penalty clauses, 86 

proposals, 82 

specifications, 78 

starting the work, 85 

sureties for, 79 

unit system, 75 
Cosby, S., oihng drives at Washing- 
ton. 118 
Crawford, A. W., Philadelphia 

parks, 9 
Curb, 71, 125 

Davis, C. E., 8 

Day labor versus contract work, 74 

Drainage : 

surface, 15, 41, 45, 49, 51, 55, 57, 
65, 

under, 39, 55, 62, 90 
Dredging, 99, 101, 105 
Drives. (See Roads.) 
Dry walls, 58 
Dust palliatives, 71, 116, 117 

Electric lighting, 72 
Entrances for parks, 66, 67, 68 
Essex County parks, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 

11, 99, 103 
Excavation. {See Grading.) 



Fairmount Park, 8 



127 



128 



INDEX 



Gas lighting, 73 
Gasoline lighting, 73 
Grading, 51, 94 

cableway, 103 

drag scraper, 100 

dredge, 99, 101, 105 

economy, 104 

grading machine, 98 

muck excavation, 100, 109, 113 

pick and shovel, 97 

plow and shovel, 98 

rooter plow, 83 

staking out, 94 

steam shovel, 32, 91, 95, 98 

topsoil stripping, 29, 37, 97 

view of operations, 109, 113 

wheel scraper, 83, 100 
Grass gutters, 15, 49, 51, 57, 70 

Hudson County parks, 2 
Hydrants : 

cranes, 61, 63 

lawn, 61, 63 
Hydrographical survey, 32, 33 

Inlets, 44, 65 

Labor, 74 

Lakes, 52, 99, 100, 105, 109, 113 
Landscape architecture, iv, 36 
Lands suitable for parks, 2, 3, 15, 

19, 21, 103 
Lewis, A. S., bituminous con- 
crete, 123 
Lighting, 72, 126 

acetylene, 73 

electric, 72 

gas, 73 

gasoline, 73 
Lincoln Park, 123 
Long Island Motor Parkway, 125 
Lynn parks, 10 

Macadam pavement, 71, 115, 120 
Mapes, Prof., tile drains, 93 
Martin, T. S., 8 



Masonry : 

steps, 58 

walls, 55, 57, 108 
Middlesex Fells Reservation, 10 
MinneapoUs, dredging at, 99, 105 
Muck excavation, 100, 109, 113 

New York parks, 2, 6, 7, 21, 41 
Nokomis, Lake, Minneapolis, 
dredging, 99, 105 

Office buildings, 90 

Oil emulsion, 117 

Oils, as dust palliatives, 116, 117, 
118 

Ohnsted Brothers, 7 

Olmsted, J. C, iv 

Organization for work: 
architect, 17 
clerical force, 18 
counsel, 14 

engineering department, 17 
landscape architect, 14 
purchasing department, 14 
superintendent's department, 18 
title guarantee department, 18 

Park engineer, his function, iv 
Park movement, its magnitude, iii 
Parker, G. A. : 

efficiency in grading operations, 
103 

sod steps, 59, 61 
Parks: 

acquisition of property, 23 

actual results, 7 

classification, 6 

earning capacity, 6 

economic advantage, 5 

future possibilities, 13 

lands, selection of, 3, 15, 19, 21, 
103 

organization for work, 14 

social need, 1,21 

surveys, 23 

the obtaining of, 10, 14 



INDEX 



129 



Paths, 62, 112 

asphalt, 70 

brick, 70, 112 

cement, 67, 112 

crowns, 67 

foundations, G2, 65, 69, 112 

gravel, 69 

scantlings, 112 

wings, 65 
Pavements : 

bituminous concrete, 123 

bituminous macadam, 120 

brick, 71, 124 

concrete, 123, 124 

dust palliatives, 116 

macadam, 71, 115, 120 

surfacing with light oils, 117 

surfacing with heavy oils, 119 
Philadelphia parks, 5, 8, 22 
Pile bulkhead, 54, 55, 103, 109 
Pile driver, 87 
PUes, 53, 55, 107 
Playgrounds, 9, 22 
Plow, rooter, 83 
Ponds, 52 

Pressure distributor, 119, 121 
Prospect Park, 6, 8 
Pulsometer, 83, 94 
Purchasing of lands, 23, 24 

Retaining walls, 55, 57 
River fronts, 10 
Riverside Park, 15, 19, 103 
Roads, 70, 115 
asphaltic oils, surfacing macadam 

pavements with, 119. 
bituminous concrete, 123 
bituminous materials, impreg- 
nating new macadam pave- 
ments with, 120 
brick pavements, 7, 124 
calcium chloride, sprinkling with, 

117 
concrete pavements, 124 
crude oils, impregnating earth 
roads with, 120 



Roads, light oils and light tars, 
treating surface with, 117 

oil emulsion, sprinkling with, 117 

oiling, 119, 121 

rolling, 49, 120, 121 

salt water, sprinkling with, 117 

water, sprinkling with fresh, 116 
Roa Hook gravel, 69 
Rollers, road, 49, 120, 121 

Scrapers : 
drag, 100 
wheel, 83, 110 
Sewers, 43, 93 
combined, 48 
grade and line for, 91, 94 
sanitary, 48 
storm water, 44 
Shanties for laborers, 90 
" Sherwood Forest," Philadelphia, 

5 
Sod steps, 59, 61 
Specifications, 78 
Stables, 90 

Steam shovel, 32, 91, 95, 98 
Steps, 58, 59 
Sureties for contracts, 79 
Surface drainage, 15, 41, 45, 49, .51, 

55, 57, 65 
Surveys : 

hydrographical, 32 
property, 23 
topographical, 25 

Tars for roads, 117, 118, 119 
Telford pavement, 71, 115 
Tile, 39, 90 

Topographical survey, 25 
Topsoil stripping, 29, 37, 97 
Turbidity of first wash in storm 
sewers, 47 

Underdrainage, 39, 55, 62, 90 

Valentine, Commissioner, River- 
side Park, 103 



130 



INDEX 



Walls, 55, 57, 108 

Walnut Lane Bridge, frontispiece 

W^ard, Cabot, 52, 103 

Waring, Col., 40, 93 

Washington parks, treatment of 

roads in, 118 
Water meters, 62 
Water pipes, 61, 111 

hydrants for, 61, 63 

testing, 112 

water hammer in, 112 



Water supply, its protection, 8 
Weequahic Reservation, 5, 99 
Weir measurement, 33 
Westside Park, Newark, 100 
Wheel scraper, 83, 100 
Whinery, S., sprinkling with fresh 

water, 116 
Wissahickon Bridge, frontispiece 
Wissahickon Park, 8 
Wright, W., 9 




!!!! 



